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Maine 70, Delaware 59
January 22, 1999


NEWARK, DE -- Junior Nate Fox scored 18 points and pulled a career-high 13 rebounds as the University of Maine took advantage of a poor University of Delaware shooting effort to post a 70-59 America East men's basketball victory over the host Blue Hens Friday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Maine (12-4, 7-1) won its fifth straight game as Allen Ledbetter added 15 points and Andy Bedard chipped in with 12 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Delaware (12-5, 5-3), which has now lost three of its last four games, had a 15-game home win streak snapped. The Hens, whose streak was the 11th longest current home win streak in NCAA Division I, lost at home for the first time since a 91-70 setback to Hartford last January 16.

Fox, a transfer from Boston College who earlier this season connected on 18 of 19 field goals vs. Sacred Heart, hit on 8 of 12 shots from the field in just 29 minutes of play.

Delaware got a balanced scoring effort as four players scored in double figures but the Hens connected on just 3 of 24 three-point attempts and shot 33 percent from the field (23 of 69) for the game, including 31 percent (12 of 39) in the second half.

Blue Hen junior guard John Gordon, a junior transfer from Maine, scored 18 points and had seven steals against his former teammates while Greg Miller added 12 points, and John Bennett had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Junior forward Mike Pegues, who entered the game as the nation's leading scorer at 25.9 points per game, was held to just 10 points and pulled a career-high 13 rebounds.

Delaware took a 29-27 halftime lead but Maine scored the first nine points of the second half to take control, going up 36-29 five minutes into the half. The Hens cut the lead to three at 36-33 with 13:33 left to play but Bedard followed with a three-pointer and the Hens never got closer than seven points the final 10 minutes of play.

The game was played before a standing room only crowd of 5,100, the sixth sellout in the seven-year history of the Bob Carpenter Center.

AGATE:

MAINE (12-4, 7-1)- Fox, 8-12 2-3 18, Meeks, 0-5 0-0 0, Ledbetter, 6-8 3-4 15, Wills, 1-5 4-6 7, Bedard, 4-9 1-3 12, Faison, 2-2 1-2 5, Dye, 2-9 0-1 5, Haynes, 3-4 1-2 8, Marshall, 0-0 0-0 0, Totals, 26-54 12-21 70.

DELAWARE (12-5, 5-3) -Pegues, 4-13 2-3 10, Miller, 5-12 1-1 12, Bennett, 5-7 1-5 11, Perry, 1-8 2-2 4, Gordon, 6-16 4-5 18, Ndiaye, 1-3 0-0 2, Marciulionis, 0-7 0-0 0, Diouf, 1-3 0-0 2, Totals, 23-69 10-16 59.

Halftime Score: Delaware 29, Maine 27; Three-Point Field Goals: M - 6-17 (Bedard, 3-6, Wills, 1-2, Dye, 1-1, Hayes, 1-2, Fox, 0-2, Meeks, 0-4), D - 3-24 (Gordon, 2-7, Miller, 1-7, Perry, 0-6, Marciulionis, 0-4); Rebounds: M - 41 (Fox, 13), D - 43 (Pegues, Bennett, 13); Assists: M - 14 (Bedard, 6), D - 10 (Miller, 3); Fouled Out: Perry; Total Fouls: M - 16, D - 22; Attendance: 5,100 (sro).

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