Star City Classic hoop results
PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle got its season under way this past weekend at the Star City Classic, held at Wieden Gymnasium.
The Owl women swept their two games, while the men settled for a split.
UMPI women 43, Newbury College 38
The fans that came to the 2013-14 season opener for the UMPI women may not have been ready for what they saw Saturday night. The Owls came away with a victory that resembled a heavyweight fight more than a basketball game.
There were plenty of swings and misses by both teams. The stingy UMPI defense allowed only four first-half field goals to a Newbury squad which was recently voted third in the pre-season poll of New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) basketball coaches.
The Owls were only slightly better offensively in the first 20 minutes, hitting on eight of 32 shots to lead by 12 at the half.
The visiting Nighthawks made several runs at the Owls in the second half, especially after senior Owl captain Olivia McNally went down with a leg injury and was forced to leave the game late in the half. With 2:33 left, Janetis Cardona made a foul shot to close the UMPI lead to six at 35-29. But foul shots by Brigitte Pratt and a huge three-pointer from freshman Sydney Churchill seemed to seal the win for UMPI as they led 40-29 with only 1:38 remaining on the clock.
The Nighthawks proved they had a puncher’s chance and plenty of fight left in them as they knocked down several outside shots, including a three that banked in from Katie Haney in the waning seconds to cut the UMPI lead, but the Owls, running without their senior playmaker McNally, hung on for the hard-fought victory. It was the first victory for new Owl coach Doug Carter.
Churchill led the Owls with 12 points and junior Rebecca Campbell added 16 rebounds and five points. McNally had a well-rounded game with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Newbury was led by Alex Pezzella, who notched 16 points while taking a game-high 28 shot attempts. Katelyn Poeser posted 11 points and 15 rebounds.
UMPI women 55, Thomas College 44
The Owls used a strong defensive effort to overtake Thomas College of Waterville Sunday in the finale of the tournament. The visiting Terriers were held to four field goals and 10 total points in the first half of play as UMPI’s staunch defensive held Thomas scoreless for 11 minutes to close out the first stanza.
The Blue and Gold held a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half until a jumper from the Terriers’ Katie McAllister brought the score to 37-28 with 9:11 left in the game. UMPI showed guts by answering back with three-pointers on consecutive possessions by Churchill and McNally to answer the Thomas uprising.
The Terriers had one more push left in them when they went on a nine-point run to narrow the lead to 53-41 with 2:13 left on the clock. A Kristin Thompson jumper ended that streak and the Owls came away with their second win in two days.
McNally had 13 points, four rebounds and five assists for the Owls and Campbell added 12 points and four rebounds. Freshman Thompson was a spark off the bench, scoring 10 points and grabbing five boards. For the Terriers, only Morgan Hutchins tallied double digits, scoring all 10 of her points in the second half.
The Owls will next venture into enemy territory Saturday for a game against the Terriers in Waterville.
UMPI men 92, UM-Machias 74
The Owl men kicked off its season Friday by rolling to the victory over the Clippers.
Thaigo Conceicao and Michael Warner for the standouts for UMPI, each tallying 24 points. Conceicao added nine rebounds and four blocked shots, with Warner contributing seven boards.
By collecting a pair of steals, Owl point guard Derek Healy sparked a 14-2 run seven minutes into the game to break an 11-11 deadlock and give his team the lead for good. Conceicao had 17 of his points in the opening half, with UMPI up by 10 at intermission.
Floyd Higgins paced UMM with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Healy dished out nine assists for the Owls, who shot 53 percent from the field as a team and committed just seven turnovers compared to 16 by their opponents.
UMFK men 80, UMPI 70
In the men’s second game of the tourney Sunday, UMPI led by three 25 minutes in, but the youthful Owl squad could not hold onto the lead and fell to the Bengals.
Mauro Vicic was high scorer for UM-Fort Kent with 22 points and 12 rebounds, Mike McClung and James Givens each scored 16 for the visitors.
Warner had 17 points and nine rebounds for the game and with his performance in game one of the tourney was named to the All-Classic team. All five UMPI starters scored in double digits for head coach Jim Casciano. Conceicao had 12 points and eight rebounds and Healy added 12 to go along with four assists and four steals.
The Owls next play Maine Maritime Academy in Presque Isle tonight at 6 p.m. UM-Fort Kent is 2-2 on the season.
