BIDDEFORD — It was only natural, right?
Jack Simonds was averaging 30 points for Bowdoin College and with the game tied in the final minute Tuesday night, he was sure to get the chance to take charge.
Right?
Not right.
Instead, Coach Tom Gilbride went to freshman David Reynolds, whose shot banked in with 41 seconds left to break the tie, and the Polar Bears went on to a 60-52 victory against the University of New England in a nonconference men’s basketball game at Alfond Forum.
“David Reynolds is a freshman we have a lot of faith in,” said Gilbride. “We put him in because he’s a pretty good offensive player who can score inside and out.
“(UNE) was keying so much on Jack Simonds that I thought it might be a good chance to get (Reynolds) the ball down low. I have confidence in my guys that if they get the ball in a good one-on-one situation that they will have a good chance of scoring.”
The Nor’easters (1-3) missed their last four shots – a blocked layup and three 3-pointers – while Simonds went 4 of 4 and Reynolds 2 of 2 from the foul line in the final 22 seconds.
“We had a shot (to tie the game) but unfortunately we had a couple bad shot selections and a couple good shots we usually make that we didn’t make,” said UNE Coach Ed Silva. “At the end of the day these games are about making shots.”
Simonds, a sophomore from Falmouth, finished with 19 points for Bowdoin (2-1), and Liam Farley added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Hugh O’Neil had a game-high 16 rebounds.
The Nor’easters had to dig out of large deficits in both halves.
UNE led only twice in the first half, the last at 9-8 on a 12-foot jumper by Jean-Luc Parker (team-high 17 points). But the Polar Bears went on a 20-3 run for its largest lead at 28-12 with 9:34 left before the break.
Seven players scored in the run, led by five points from Blake Gordon of Brunswick.
The Nor’easters chipped away for the rest of the half to trail 34-26 at intermission.
After the Polar Bears pushed the lead to 39-29 with a little less than 17 minutes remaining – the largest of the second half – neither scored during a 3½-minute span.
UNE then went on a 13-1 run. Parker’s 10-foot jump shot on the left baseline with 9:31 to play gave his team its first lead since early in the game, at 42-40.
Simonds scored seven of Bowdoin’s next 12 points before Reynolds put the Polar Bears ahead to stay.
“Tonight was the same thing (that happened) this weekend,” said Simonds.
“We built leads and (our opponents) would come back. We’re always battling, always picking each other up and trying to get the win collectively.”
Gilbride said his young team has shown resiliency through the first three games.
“When (UNE) took the lead fairly late in the game I thought we responded very well and probably played our best basketball of the game,” he said.
The Polar Bears’ victory made up for a loss last season when UNE went on a 17-4 run at the end of the game to secure a 72-70 victory.
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