Edwards and Pollard help propel the Black Bears to their first victory

Written by Matt Schilmoeller

Orono - The Maine men came into their game against the Siena Saints looking to snap a four game losing streak. Justin Edwards scored 19 points to lead the Black Bears to a 72-66 victory over the Saints at Alfond Arena on Sunday afternoon.   

Key contributors for Maine in the first half were Alasdair Fraser who scored 13 of his 17 points and nine rebounds. Xavier Pollard also led the team scoring 6 of his 15 points in the first half hitting a three pointer to spark the Black Bears. Pollard hit crucial shots early in the first half for Maine.

Siena kept it close however both Rakeem Brookins and Evan Hymes both sparked the saints each scoring 10 points in the first half.  

Maine led throughout most of the first half, however they went into the locker room trailing  36-33.

Evan Hymes led the Saints in scoring with 20 points. O.D. Anosike added 12 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. It was not enough to stop Maine’s better defensive game making Siena turn the ball over 14 times to the Black Bears 12 Turnovers.

Others scorers for the Saints were Rob Poole scored 11, Trenity Burdine with six and Brett Bisping chipped in with two.

Other scorers for Maine were Jon Mesghna with nine, Kilian Cato added eight and Mike Allison chipped in with four.

Siena went 34 percent (21-62) from the floor and 20 percent (6-30) from the three-point line. The Saints shot 78 percent (18-23) from the charity stripe.

Maine shot 43 percent (25-58) from the field and 28 percent (6-21) from the three point line. The Black Bears shot 80 percent (16-20) from the free throw line.

Maine improves their record to 1-4 on the season while Siena falls to 2-4 on the season.

The Black Bears will look to continue a winning streak when they go on the road for two games. Maine travels to Northeastern on November 28th, at Duquesne on December 1st and they come home and play Thursday December 5th hosting Fisher College (a D3 school) at the Pit.