Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Maine Sports

Media Credit: Rebekah Rhodes UMaine men's basketball team works hard to keep New Jersey Tech away from the basket

The University of Maine men's basketball team was coming off back-to-back defeats of 20 or more points. Hosting New Jersey Tech was a welcome challenge. The Highlanders were, and still are, winless as the Black Bears defeated them Saturday afternoon 86-58.

Maine's interior presence was again effective as Jordan Cook and Brian Andre dominated at both ends of the floor. The Black Bears used the big men to create opportunities and a lead they never relinquished.

Although Cook and Andre were dominant down low, the guard play from Junior Bernal and Jason Hight was equally impressive. Bernal led all scorers with 19 points and added four rebounds and three assists. Hight played his best game of the season, scoring 12 points to go along with six assists and three rebounds.

The Black Bears showed little in the way of ill effects coming off a 30-point loss to Providence College and beat the Highlanders by almost the same margin. The victory was one that UMaine needed to restore energy in the locker room.

"Anytime you come off a loss like that you want to come out the next with some intensity," Hight said. "I think we did that today."

One of the key components to the game was the Black Bears' defense. Although they had trouble stopping New Jersey Tech forward Nesho Milosevic, the Black Bears were able to hold the rest of the team to just 8-of-34 shooting. Hight added that UMaine was able to "create a lot of offense from defense." The Black Bears had 14 steals and forced 24 turnovers along with five blocks, three coming from Jordan Cook.

The Black Bears were also able to rebound, which helped them dominate the game and pull away early. First-year Troy Barnies played in his first game and was impressive. He had seven points to go along with eight rebounds and three steals. Barnies showed promise offensively, but was particularly solid on the defense end.

Maine has a tough stretch of games as they travel to Florida State next Saturday and the University of Connecticut on Dec. 22.

Being an upperclassman and team leader, Hight reiterated the importance of these games: "We have to continue to do the things that make us the team we are, play good defense and rebound [...] you can't just expect to show up and play well; you've got to put in the time and the effort."

With the win, the Black Bears improve to 4-4 overall and 3-1 at home. Their next home game is Saturday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m. against Mount St. Mary's.

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