Maine Black Bears (15-16) vs. Bryant Bulldogs (19-12)
March 9, 2024 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Bryant Bulldogs -4; Over/Under: -
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The Maine Black Bears and the Bryant Bulldogs meet Saturday in America East Tournament college basketball action from Chace Athletic Center. Let’s get into our Maine vs. Bryant prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Maine Black Bears
The Bears hit a .500 run through their first 20 games and sat at 10-10 by late January. Maine would then lose five of the next six with a lone win over Bryant in that time. Since then the Black Bears are 4-1 with wins over UMBC, NJIT, Albany and UMass Lowell (and a loss to Binghamton).
In the UMass Lowell matchup on Tuesday, the Black Bears went into the second half with a 37-33 edge. Maine posted a 34-32 run the rest of the way and took the eventual win 71-65. Peter Filipovity was the leading team scorer on his 27 points with seven rebounds.
Bryant Bulldogs
Over on the Bryant side, they were 14-9 by the 23-game mark this year. The Bulldogs would then hit a 3-3 stretch with wins over New Hampshire, Binghamton and Maine before losses to UMass Lowell and Vermont. Bryant has since won consecutive games over NJIT and Albany.
Matched up against Albany on Tuesday, the Bulldogs trailed 43-39 going into the locker room. Bryant hit a 44-36 comeback the rest of the way and powered out the win 83-79. Rafael Pinzon was the leading team scorer with his 27 points, four rebounds and five assists.
ANDREW’S FREE MAINE VS BRYANT PREDICTION
I’ll stick with Maine I suppose. Still, you could call this one either way. The Black Bears took out a pretty good UMass Lowell team in their last outing with 42 percent shooting, 45 rebounds and 16 team assists. Maine did give up 11 turnovers leading to 19 River Hawks points, though. The Bears have hit 68 or more options in four straight games—a 3-1 run.
These teams split the season series with the home squad getting a win each time. Maine took it 79-72 on February 3; the Bulldogs got theirs 77-72 on February 15. This third matchup will likely be another close one, but I think Maine can power out the cover if all goes well.
