GREENSBORO, N.C. – Uriah Forest-Bulley (Turner Falls, Mass.) was a rebound shy of a double-double in the season opener as University of Maine at Farmington (0-1,0-0) fell, 69-41, to Guilford College at the Guilford Tournament.
The Beavers battled Guildford, bucket-for-bucket, in the opening minutes. Logan Nicholas (Minot, Maine) scored the game’s first basket and Ryan Camire’s (Acton, Maine) layup gave UMF a 4-0 lead, but the lead slipped away and could not recover.
The Quakers quickly answered with a pair of layups to tie the game and after three-pointer from Trevor Hyatt, the Beavers lead was gone for good. Guilford managed to hold the Beavers scoreless for over six minutes on its way to a 14-0 run.
Nick Hilton (Wilton, Maine) ended the scoring drought with a tip-in after a missed three-pointer at the 11:49 mark. Freshman Michael Atkins (El Paso, TX) cut the lead in half to, 16-8, 30 seconds layer with a pull-up jumper.
Guilford controlled the later minutes of the opening half by closing with a 18-5 run after Atkins’ layup, taking a 33-13 lead into the break. The Quakers shot 43 percent (12-28) from the floor in the opening half while holding the Beavers to 28 percent (6-21) field goal percentage.
Forest-Bulley propelled the UMF offense to begin the second half with three buckets in the opening 1:15, dimming the Quaker’s lead to 34-19. North Carolina native Pet Sumner (Cramerton, N.C.) scored UMF’s next five points, but Guilford continued to control the tempo. The Quakers increased their lead back to 20 points with a pair of free throws and tip-ins.
The Beavers finished the game, shooting 17-of-54 (32 percent) from the floor as the Quakers shot 26-of-63 (41 percent) and 9-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Forest-Bulley banked a team-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and muscled nine rebounds, including seven defensive boards. Jonny Rice scored a game-high 15 points for Guilford on his way to a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Farmington will play on Sunday against the non-advancing team of the Virginia-Lynchburg and William Peace game on day two of the Guilford Tournament.
