Stony Brook Rallies Past Umaine Men’s Basketball Team

Building early leads rarely has been the issue for the University of Maine men’s basketball team since the start of America East play earlier this month. Maintaining them for the full 40 minutes of play is the next step toward upward mobility for the rebuilding Black Bears. Stony Brook University was the latest to mount a comeback against UMaine, rallying from an 16-point halftime deficit to frustrate the upset-minded Black Bears 64-61 at the Cross Insurance Center on Saturday afternoon. Stony Brook improved to 16-3 overall, 4-0 in conference play while UMaine dipped to 3-17 and 1-4. “It was a tale of two halves, and give them a lot of credit, they dictated what we did offensively in the first half,” said Stony Brook coach Jeff Boals, whose team was outscored 33-17 over the first 20 minutes before outscoring the Black Bears 47-28 after the break. “They played great in the first half and I thought we played great in the second half.