BOX SCORE
ORONO, ME - The University of Hartford men's basketball team fell 68-63 to the University of Maine on Wednesday night at Alfond Sports Arena.
Hartford (6-20 overall, 2-10 America East) led by six with 6:20 remaining in the contest but came up empty on its next five possessions. Maine (9-16 overall, 4-8 America East) scored six straight points to tie the game and took over the lead for good with 1:00 left to play.
Senior Michael Turner led all scorers and tied a career high with 26 points, including 17 in the second half. He also pulled down eight rebounds to give him 500 for his career. He becomes only the 16th player in school history to record 500 points and 500 rebounds in a career.
Turner and Maine's Sean McNally were tabbed America East Players of the Game. McNally scored 14 points-one of four Black Bears in double figures-while adding a team-high eight rebounds. Marc Socoby led Maine with 15 points while Malachi Peay and Gerald McLemore finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Hartford led 34-32 at the break after shooting 46 percent in the first half. Freshman Genesis Maciel netted all of his nine points in the stanza to pace the Hawks while Socoby scored 12 for the Black Bears.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Hartford took its biggest lead of the game at 56-50 on a three-pointer by Turner with 6:20 to go. Maine then scored six straight points to knot the game up.
Turner hit a jumper in the lane to put the Hawks back up by two, but McNally tied the score at 58-58 with a pair of free throws. He then followed with a layup at the one-minute mark to give the Black Bears their first lead since early in the half.
Hartford trailed by four when Turner cut the deficit in half with another jumper, and the Hawks were then forced to foul on Maine's next possession. The Black Bears went 8-for-8 at the line in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.
Hartford shot 48 percent for the game and turned the ball over 10 times. Maine shot 44 percent and had nine turnovers.
Hartford will next host UMBC on Saturday, February 14 at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
