Burnatowski scores 20 to help Maine defeat Albany 66-53, win fifth of last six games

Burnatowski’s 20 leads Maine past Albany 66-53

ORONO, Maine — Murphy Burnatowski scored a career-high 20 points and Maine defeated Albany 66-53 on Wednesday night, winning its fifth out of the last six.

The Black Bears (19-9, 11-4 America East Conference) shot 37.2 percent in the first half (13 of 35) and trailed 14-5 early.

Albany, however, shot 26.7 percent in the second half (8 of 30) and was outscored 31-22.

The Black Bears opened the second half on a 14-5 run, with Burnatowski and Gerald McLemore scoring five points each. Junior Bernal’s layup capped the spurt for a 49-36 lead with 13:02 left.

Maine then went on a 13-6 run over the next 7 minutes and led 62-42 on Gerald McLemore’s 3 with 6:03 remaining to seal the win.

McLemore finished with 13 points and Bernal 10 for the Black Bears.

Logan Aronhalt led the Great Danes (7-23, 2-13) with 15 points and Fran Urli added 11.