El Shakery Records Double-Double in 61-58 Loss to Maine

Saturday, February 21

Durham, N.H.

4 PM

University of New Hampshire

8-18,4-9America East

Maine

7-21,5-8America East

Maine

New Hampshire

Photo by: Katie Beaudrot

2/21/2026 8:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Redshirt sophomore forward Belal El Shakery (Alexandria, Egypt) secured a double-double by scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team's 61-58 loss against the University of Maine in Lundholm Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman guard Tyler Bike (Merrimack, N.H.) netted a team-high 15 points with four 3-pointers. Junior forward Davide Poser (Veneto, Italy) scored 11 points and sophomore forward John Squire (Sausalito, Calif.) grabbed nine rebounds.

Maine's Logan Carey and Mekhi Gray both scored 16 points. Ace Flagg had 15 points.

UNH moves to 8-18 overall and 4-9 America East. Maine is now 7-21, 5-8 AE.

UP NEXT

UNH heads to New York for a two-game road trip that starts with a meeting at Binghamton University on Thursday, Feb. 26 and ends Feb. 28 at UAlbany.
The Wildcats close the regular season Tuesday, March 3, when they will play host to Bryant University in Lundholm Gymnasium.
This home game will be Fan Appreciation Day.
CLICK HERE to buy tickets online -- including upgrade to the Lundholm Loft, where you can enjoy elevated drinks and eats in elevated seats -- or call (603) 862-4000.

FIRST HALF

El Shakery put the 'Cats on the board with the first points of the game off a pull-up jump shot at 18:35 to give UNH the early lead 2-0.
KiJan Robinson (Apopka, Fla.) bullied his way into the paint for two points at 14:26, making it a one possession game, 11-8, in favor of the Black Bears.
El Shakery put the Maine in the spin cycle at 13:32 to bring UNH within one point, 11-10.
UNH grabbed the lead again, 12-11, at 12:10 when El Shakery netted his eighth point in seven minutes.
Bike found El Shakery in the paint for a monstrous slam dunk at 11:14 to give the 'Cats a 16-13 lead.
A drawn foul on a corner 3-pointers sent Bike to the line, where he made two of three to give the 'Cats an 18-13 lead at 10:07.
Dylan Saunders (Roanoke, Va.) sank a 3-pointer off a pass from Poser at 9:08 to extend the lead to 21-15 and ignite the Wildcat fans in Lundholm Gym.
Trailing 23-16, Maine forced a pair of turnovers that led to layups and a tie game, 23-23, at 5:12.
The Black Bears extended the run to 9-0 to take a 25-23 lead at 4:17.

A layup by Jack Graham (Smithfield, R.I.) leveled the score at 2:30, but the visitors scored the last five points of the half to take a 30-25 lead into halftime.

SECOND HALF

Bike opened UNH's second-half scoring with quick-draw 3-pointer at 18:53, assisted by El Shakery, to lift the 'Cats within 32-28.
Poser nailed back-to-back 3's for UNH to tie the game, 34-34, at 17:25.
Drilling another shot from beyond the arc, Bike put the 'Cats back in front 37-34 at 16:35.
Maine completed the and-1 to build a 43-39 edge at 13:42.
UNH went on a 9-0 run fueled by a pair of Bike 3-pointers, the latter of which became a four-point play at 11:43.
El Shakery shook Lundholm Gym with a massive block at 8:58 that led to a fast-break 3-pointer from Poser at 8:55, to give the 'Cats a 51-45 advantage.
The Black Bears converted a Wildcat turnover into an easy layup to tie the game again, 51-51, at 5:54.
Robinson joined the 3-point party with one directly out of a time out at 3:38 to put UNH up 56-55 and then he made a pair of free throws to make it a three-point lead at 2:24.
A three-point play by Maine at 2:02 tied the score up at 58.
Gray made two foul shots to go back in front, 60-58, with 58 seconds remaining.
Following a UNH turnover, the Black Bears went 0-for-2 at the foul line to keep the margin at two points with 26 seconds on the clock.
The Wildcats committed another turnover with 12 seconds left and Carey made one free throw to advance the score to 61-58.
Graham pulled down the defensive rebound off the second free throw with eight seconds to play.

The 'Cats pushed the ball and a long-range game-tying attempt ricocheted off the rim at the buzzer.

UNH NOTEBOOK

The last time a Wildcat had 10+ rebounds and the last time a Wildcat had a double-double were both held by El Shakery; he had 14 rebounds against UMBC on Feb. 14 and his last double-double was Jan. 22 vs. Binghamton.

El Shakery, who made 7 of 9 field goal attempts, has six double-doubles this season.

GAME NOTEBOOK

There were 11 lead changes and eight ties throughout the game.
UNH grabbed 37 rebounds in comparison to Maine's 31.
Maine scored 30 points in the paint while UNH scored 22.
Maine scored 15 points off UNH's 13 turnovers, while the Wildcats scored five points off the Black Bears' 11 turnovers.