2017–18 Maine Black Bears men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Maine Black Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Maine during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Black Bears, led by fourth-year head coach Bob Walsh, played their home games at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine as members of the America East Conference. They finished the season 6–26, 3–13 in America East play to finish in eighth place. They lost to Vermont in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament.

2017–18 Maine Black Bears men's basketball
Conference	America East Conference
Record	6–26 (3–13 America East)
Head coach	Bob Walsh (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Bob Simon Tylee Schlegel Antone Gray
Home arena	Cross Insurance Center
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 America East Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Vermont	15	–	1		.938			27	–	8		.771
UMBC †	12	–	4		.750			25	–	11		.694
Hartford	11	–	5		.688			19	–	14		.576
Albany	10	–	6		.625			22	–	10		.688
Stony Brook	7	–	9		.438			13	–	19		.406
New Hampshire	6	–	10		.375			10	–	21		.323
UMass Lowell	6	–	10		.375			12	–	18		.400
Maine	3	–	13		.188			6	–	26		.188
Binghamton	2	–	14		.125			11	–	20		.355
† 2018 America East tournament winner

On March 5, the school parted ways with head coach Bob Walsh and within hours hired Richard Barron, who was previously head coach Maine's women's basketball team from 2011 to 2017.^[1]

Previous season

The Black Bears finished the 2016–17 season 7–25, 3–13 in America East play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament to Vermont.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Austin Howard	2	G	6'1"	177	Junior	Lexington, KY	Graduate transferred to College of Charleston
Ryan Bernstein	3	G	6'0"	183	Sophomore	Bronx, NY	Walk-on; transferred to Kent State
Marko Pirovic	4	F	6'7"	210	Senior	Bolton, ON	Graduated
Wesley Myers	10	G	6'2"	186	RS Junior	Brooklyn, NY	Graduate transferred to South Carolina
C. J. Ward	12	G	5'11"	170	Junior	Plymouth, MA	Walk-on; didn't return
JaQuan McKennon	23	G	5'10"	190	Sophomore	Queens, NY	Transferred
Troy Reid-Knight	31	G	6'0"	217	Senior	Vaughan, ON	Graduated
Garet Beal	55	G/F	6'6"	237	Senior	Beals, ME	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Isaiah White	14	G	6'6"	180	RS Sophomore	Ellicott City, MD	Junior college transferree from Harford Community College

2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Miks Antoms PF	Riga, Latvia	Lee Academy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Apr 7, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017.

Preseason

In a poll of the conference's nine head coaches (who were not allowed to pick their own team) at the America East media day, the Black Bears were picked to finish last in America East play.^[2]

Roster

2017–18 Maine Black Bears men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
} Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Andrew Fleming 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) So Oxford Hills HS South Paris, ME G 1 Aaron Calixte 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 187 lb (85 kg) RS Jr Stoughton HS/Lee Academy Stoughton, MA G 2 Celio Araujo 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr The Master's School Sheridan College Governador Valadares, Brazil G 3 Trae Bryant 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr John T. Hoggard HS UNC Asheville/Cape Fear CC Wilmington, NC G 4 Dusan Majstorovic 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Lee Academy La Salle Bolton, ON G 5 Danny Evans 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) So Allerton HS/Phillips Academy Leeds, England F 11 Ilija Stojiljkovic 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 223 lb (101 kg) Jr Pravno-Poslovna skola Nis/Lee Academy Niš, Serbia G 12 Lewis Wang (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Lee Academy Taipei, Taiwan F 13 Miks Antoms 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Archbishop Carroll HS/Lee Academy Riga, Latvia G 14 Isaiah White 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So Centennial HS UNC Asheville/Hartford CC Ellicott City, MD G 15 Vernon Lowndes Jr. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Stratford HS USC Salkehatchie Charleston, SC G 21 Duncan Douglas 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Coronado HS Western Texas CC/Santa Monica CC Lubbock, TX G 22 Garvey Melmed (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Sr Old Town HS Greenbush, ME G 31 Rob Birstonas (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Tilton School/Thornlea Secondary Whitby, ON G 32 Dennis Ashley (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 169 lb (77 kg) RS So St. Monica Los Angeles, CA G 33 Ilker Er 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Sr Arlington Country Day/San Jacinto JC Istanbul, Turkey F/C 50 Vincent Eze 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) RS So Notre Dame HS Bethlehem, CT	Head coach Bob Walsh (Iona) Assistant coach(es) Bob Simon (Eastern Michigan) Antone Gray (Rhode Island College) Tyler Schlegel (Rowan) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 18, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Oct 28, 2017* 3:00 pm		Husson	W 84–63		Cross Insurance Center (2,481) Bangor, ME
Nov 5, 2017* 2:00 pm		Saint Joseph's (ME)	W 66–54		Memorial Gym (631) Orono, ME
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 7:30 pm, ACCN Extra		at Boston College Hall of Fame Tip Off	L 65–85	0–1	Conte Forum (4,522) Chestnut Hill, MA
Nov 14, 2017* 8:00 pm, FSSW+		at Texas Tech Hall of Fame Tip Off	L 44–83	0–2	United Supermarkets Arena (6,317) Lubbock, TX
Nov 18, 2017* 5:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. South Alabama Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield Bracket semifinals	L 46–68	0–3	Mohegan Sun Arena  Uncasville, CT
Nov 19, 2017* 12:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Sacred Heart Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield Bracket third place game	L 68–69 OT	0–4	Mohegan Sun Arena  Uncasville, CT
Nov 22, 2017* 2:00 pm		Boston University	L 69–78	0–5	Cross Insurance Center (874) Bangor, ME
Nov 26, 2017* 2:00 pm		at Quinnipiac	W 78–72	1–5	TD Bank Sports Center (1,103) Hamden, CT
Nov 28, 2017* 8:45 pm, FS1		at Georgetown	L 55–76	1–6	Capital One Arena (4,029) Washington, D.C.
Dec 2, 2017* 2:00 pm		at Fordham	L 66–67 OT	1–7	Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,421) The Bronx, NY
Dec 5, 2017* 7:30 pm		Maine–Presque Isle	W 75–55	2–7	Cross Insurance Center (1,964) Bangor, ME
Dec 8, 2017* 7:00 pm		Dartmouth	L 66–73	2–8	Cross Insurance Center (539) Bangor, ME
Dec 10, 2017* 2:00 pm		Maine–Machias	W 104–51	3–8	Cross Insurance Center (602) Bangor, ME
Dec 17, 2017* 4:30 pm		at Saint Joseph's	L 59–72	3–9	Hagan Arena (3,551) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 20, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Central Connecticut	L 57–84	3–10	William H. Detrick Gymnasium (1,379) New Britain, CT
Dec 22, 2017* 4:00 pm		at Massachusetts	L 63–74	3–11	William D. Mullins Memorial Center (1,481) Amherst, MA
Dec 30, 2017* 2:00 pm		at Columbia	L 71–83	3–12	Levien Gymnasium (1,376) New York City, NY
America East regular season
Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Stony Brook	L 70–71	3–13 (0–1)	Island Federal Credit Union Arena (2,262) Stony Brook, NY
Jan 6, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Binghamton	W 76–73	4–13 (1–1)	Binghamton University Events Center (2,295) Vestal, NY
Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UMBC	L 67–72	4–14 (1–2)	Cross Insurance Center (906) Bangor, ME
Jan 13, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3		Albany	L 66–84	4–15 (1–3)	Cross Insurance Center (842) Bangor, ME
Jan 15, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Vermont	L 62–83	4–16 (1–4)	Patrick Gym (2,405) Burlington, VT
Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Hartford	L 68–86	4–17 (1–5)	Cross Insurance Center (903) Bangor, ME
Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		New Hampshire	W 69–68	5–17 (2–5)	Cross Insurance Center (1,103) Bangor, ME
Jan 27, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at UMBC	L 74–86	5–18 (2–6)	Retriever Activities Center (808) Catonsville, MD
Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UMass Lowell	L 64–88	5–19 (2–7)	Cross Insurance Center (1,506) Bangor, ME
Feb 3, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Binghamton	W 81–79 OT	6–19 (3–7)	Cross Insurance Center (1,045) Bangor, ME
Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at New Hampshire	L 56–71	6–20 (3–8)	Lundholm Gym (522) Durham, NH
Feb 11, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Stony Brook	L 61–64	6–21 (3–9)	Cross Insurance Center (1,153) Bangor, ME
Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Hartford	L 63–67	6–22 (3–10)	Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (2,633) Hartford, CT
Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at UMass Lowell	L 76–88	6–23 (3–11)	Tsongas Center (2,214) Lowell, MA
Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Albany	L 79–89	6–24 (3–12)	SEFCU Arena (2,496) Albany, NY
Feb 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Vermont	L 62–74	6–25 (3–13)	Cross Insurance Center (907) Bangor, ME
America East tournament
Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(8)	at (1) Vermont Quarterfinals	L 60–75	6–26	Patrick Gym (3,266) Burlington, VT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[3][4]

References

1. "Barron named UMaine men's basketball head coach following Walsh's decision not to extend contract" (Press release). Maine Black Bears. March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
2. "Coming off Historic Season, Vermont Unanimously Chosen as 2017–18 #AEHoops Men's Favorite". Retrieved October 27, 2017.
3. 2017–18 Maine Black Bears men's basketball schedule
4. "Maine Black Bears Schedules". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 27, 2017.