Box Score ORONO, Maine. – Rafael Pinzon led all scorers with 28 points, helping lead the Bryant Bulldogs to an 80-72 victory over the University of Maine on Saturday at The Pit in Orono.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 19-11 overall and 13-2 in America East play. It marks Bryant's first program win on the road against Maine. Bryant also secured at least a share of the America East Regular Season title for the first time in program history. The Black and Gold head home to face New Hampshire on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m for Senior Day and a chance to secure the regular season title outright and the No. 1 seed and home court that comes along with it. 
 
Pinzon led the way with 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting which included six threes. He also registered three assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Earl Timberlake posted 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting along with six assists, five boards, and two blocks. Barry Evans finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
 
Connor Withers had a near double-double, tallying 10 points and nine rebounds. Jakai Robinson provided seven points on 2-of-2 FGs and went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
  
Game Information
Bryant 80, Maine 72
Records: Bryant 19-11, 13-2 | UMaine 17-13, 9-6
Location: The Pit in Memorial Gymnasium (Orono, Maine.)
Attendance: 1,129

Key Moments

• Bryant outscored Maine 8-2 over the final 1:24.
• The Bulldogs held a 40-28 advantage in the paint.

How it Happened

• Maine opened the game on a 5-0 run which featured a bank-in three by Quion Burns and a contested layup from Keelan Steele.
• Barry Evans got the Bulldogs on the board after getting a low floater in the paint to fall at 17:49.
• Evans then made a great second effort play, gathering the rebound after a missed shot and laying it in at 16:59.
• Earl Timberlake gave the Black and Gold their first lead of the afternoon; spinning for a lefty floater with 16:15 to play.
• Tynes drilled a three at 15:57 and quickly swung the lead back in favor of the Black Bears.
• Rafael Pinzon cut the deficit to one with his first bucket of the game at 15:44.
• A.J. Lopez pulled up for a one legged jumper over Evans at the 15 minute mark.
• Maine extended the lead to five after Jaden Clayton finished under the basket with a layup at 14:38.
• Pinzon swished a three the Black Bear logo cutting Maine's lead to 14-13 at 13:11.
• Kvonn Cramer made a jumper at 11:13 giving Bryant a 17-16 advantage.
• Keshawn Mitchell got the offensive board off a Timberlake missed layup and layed it in at 9:49.
• Evans put down a two handed slam after being fed on a bounce pass by Pinzon at 8:49.
• Pinzon set up another dunk a play later, feeding Mitchell with 7:45 to play.
• Maine's Christopher Mantis canned a three 7:17 cutting Bryant's lead to 23-22 at the under eight media.
• Pinzon swished a corner three while fading away to his left with 3:32 to play in the first.
• Pinzon got into double-figures after driving for a layup with 2:42 left in the first half.
• Maine's Jaden Clayton helped the Black Bears take a 35-32 lead after nailing a three with 2:17 to play.
• Pinzon countered for Bryant, drilling two consecutive threes, giving the Black and Gold a 38-35 lead. 
• Kellen Tynes beat the buzzer for the Black Bears, cutting Bryant's lead to one at the break.
• Pinzon kept it rolling out of the break; knocking down a three-pointer from directly above the key ten seconds into the second half.
• Withers knocked down a jumper at 18:49  and drove for a layup at 18:15 giving Bryant an eight point lead.
• Tynes got Maine's first points of the second half, hitting a turnaround jumper from the elbow.
• Pinzon hit another logo three 15:16 in the second, giving Bryant a 50-42 lead.
• Clayton got fouled on a circus-style contested  layup and drained the and one free throw at 12:31 in the half.
• Timberlake  located Jakai Robinson in the paint for a two handed layup at 10:57.
• Evans gathered himself under the basket and made a contested layup at 8:27."
• Tynes was true on an elbow jumper cutting Maine's deficit to six with just under eight minutes to play.
• Maine's Burns finished through traffic and got a contested layup to fall at 7:28.
• A Pinzon steal at 6:06 led to points, as Evans scored on a driving layup on the following possession. 
• Burns backed down Connor Withers in the low post and got a layup for fall at 4:44.
• Following a Jakai Robinson layup at 4:22, Maine's A.J. Lopez netted a three pointer at 4:06 cutting the Bulldogs lead to five.
• After getting fouled at 3:35 Lopez would make both his free throws and make it a one score game.
• Burns knocked down a pair of free throws making it a two point game with 3:04 to play.
• Earl Timberlake would make a contested layup while falling away to his left, extending Bryant's lead to two scores.
• Connor Withers went 2-2 at the charity stripe with 45 seconds remaining to give Bryant a 76-70 lead.
• Clayton drove the length of the floor and scored on a right-handed layup with 35 seconds remaining; making the score 76-72.
• Lopez missed a dunk with 15 seconds remaining and gave the Bulldogs the ball. Bryant would hold on and win 80-72. 

Stats

• Bryant finished the game 28-of-59 (47.5 percent) from the field, 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from three and 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) from the line.
• Bryant held a 38-33 edge in rebounding and a 40-28 edge in the paint.
• The Black and Gold posted 15 assists, had five blocks and three steals.
• Pinzon finished with 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 6-of-14 from three. He added three assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
• Timberlake added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He also had six assists, five rebounds and two blocks.
• Evans chipped in 14 points in 37 minutes. He was 6-of-12 from the field.
• Withers finished with 10 points, nine boards and three assists.
• Robinson added seven points, four rebounds, and a block.

Game Notes

• Bryant completed a season sweep of UMaine. The Bulldogs are now 5-2 vs the Black Bears at the DI level.
• Bryant picks up its first win at The Pit. The Bulldogs were previously 0-2 when visiting Maine.
• Bryant has tied the 2021-22 Bulldogs for the most regular season wins in program history (19).
• with the win, the Bulldogs have secured at least a share of the America East Regular Season Title. It marks the second regular season title in DI program history (21-22). 
  Timberlake finished in double figures for the 25th time this season and the 78th time in his career.
• Timberlake now has 748 career rebounds at Bryant, just two shy of tying Charles Pride for second.
• Evans has scored in double figures in 24 games this year and 26 times in his career.
• Pinzon finished in double figures for the 24th time this year and the 53rd  time in his career.
• Pinzon is averaging 28.2 ppg over his last five Saturday games.
• Withers recorded his 16th double-figure scoring games this season and the 56th of his career.

Up Next
Bryant heads home and will take on the University of New Hampshire on Tuesday, Mar. 4. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. Tuesday's game is also Senior Day for the Black and Gold.