Jacksonville, FL – The University of Maine men’s basketball team moved to 2-2 on the season as they took down Northwestern State, 78-65.
 
Northwestern State got out to an early 4-0 lead before the Black Bears went on a 9-2 run as four different Black Bears scored in the opening four minutes of the contest to take a 9-6 lead into the opening media timeout.
 
The Black Bears held onto the lead for almost 13-straight minutes before Northwestern retook the lead for 21 seconds until Ja’Shonté Wright-McLeish buried his second three-pointer of the opening half to put the Black Bears back in front at 29-28 with 1:46 remaining.
 
The two sides traded buckets back-and-forth for the final minute and a half of the first half, with AJ Lopez giving the Black Bears a 34-33 lead heading into the break behind five points he scored in the final minute to close out the first half.
 
Lopez’s seven points led the Black Bears for the first half. Six Black Bears tallied at least four points in the first half. Peter Filipovity and Adam Cisse both grabbed five rebounds in the half while Kellen Tynes dished out three assists.
 
Maine began to slowly pull away as they pushed their lead up to eight with 11:25 remaining in the second half behind a 10-2 run, capped off by a Quion Burns layup.
 
The Black Bears continued to hold their lead as they picked up their second win of the season over Northwestern State,
 
Lopez finished with a career-high and game-high 19 points in the winning effort for the Black Bears. He shot 6 of 10 from the field, including two three-pointers and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line.
 
Kellen Tynes (14), Ja’Shonté Wright-McLeish (14) and Peter Filipovity (11) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Black Bears. Filipovity also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Maine (2-2) is back in action on Friday, Nov. 17 against Presbyterian College. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 P.M.
 
-UMaine-