Wildcats Defeat Maine 79-74 in Thrilling Comeback Fashion

Thursday, January 11

Bangor, Maine

6 PM

University of New Hampshire

9-6,1-1America East

Maine

8-9,0-2America East

New Hampshire

Maine

1/11/2024 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BANGOR, Maine – Senior forward Clarence Daniels (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) dropped 30 points and collected seven rebounds as the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team came back from an 11-point deficit to defeat the University of Maine 79-74 on Thursday evening from Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Junior guard Ahmad Robinson (West Orange, N.J.) drained 16 points and collected seven rebounds while grad student forward Jaxson Baker (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored 13 points and also collected seven rebounds for the 'Cats.

The Wildcats improve to 9-6 (1-1 AE) and Maine falls to 8-9 (0-2 AE). 

Score:  New Hampshire 79, Maine 74
Records:  UNH (9-6, 1-1 AE), Maine (8-9, 0-2 AE) 
Location: Bangor, Maine (Cross Insurance Center) 
Date: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024

UP NEXT:  

The 'Cats return to Lundholm Gymnasium to take on Bryant on Saturday Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

FIRST HALF:   

The Black Bears held a lead for the first eight minutes, but the Wildcats kept the score to a two-possession game while in the deficit.
Daniels brought momentum back to UNH by sinking three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc.
Back-to-back threes from Baker and Sunderland gave the Wildcats the first lead since the opening minute of the half, 19-16.
The 'Cats continued the scoring, going on a 17-4 run with 8:15 remaining to take a 28-20 lead.
A dunk and three pointer from Maine's Lopez brought the Wildcat lead to three, 34-31.
Quion Burns drained a buzzer beater three to tie the game at 34 going into halftime.

SECOND HALF:  

Maine came out of halftime hot, taking a 43-38 lead off a 9-2 run over three minutes.
The Black Bears put up another 12 points compared to the Wildcats two, taking a 55-44 lead with 12:00 left in the half.
After being in an 11-point deficit, the Wildcats went on a 13-0 run to take a 66-64 lead with 3:39 remaining.
With the game tied 69-69 and 1:32 left, Daniels drained two free throws to reclaim the Wildcat lead.
Robinson sank a jumper to extend the UNH lead, which was quickly followed up by a Black Bear three to bring the UNH lead to one, 73-72.
Two free throws from Daniels and a layup by Maine's Jaden Clayton kept the Wildcat lead at one, 75-74. Four free throws from Robinson and Davis secured the 79-74 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:  

The Wildcats shot 19-20 from the charity stripe for a near perfect free throw percentage at 95%.
Freshman forward Davide Poser (Veneto, Italy), sophomore guard Dior Davis (New York City, N.Y.), and Robinson were perfect from the free throw line while Daniels went 11-12.
The last time a Wildcat made 10+ free throws was when Tanner Leissner made 13 on January 10, 2018 versus Binghamton.
Baker went 3-3 beyond the arc. The second gave the Wildcats a 66-64 lead and the third gave UNH a 69-67 lead. They were scored on back-to-back possession with under four minutes remaining.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:  

UNH's first 11 points were scored by Daniels.
Three different Wildcats combined for six free throws in the final 18 seconds of the game to secure the road victory.
This is Daniels' second 30+ point game of the season, the first one coming against Brown when he scored 36.
The Wildcats have won the last four contests against the Black Bears and the 'Cats served Maine their fifth straight loss this evening.