The University of Maine jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead and held on to beat Albany 74-72 to clinch a spot in the America East playoffs on Saturday in Orono.

Kellen Tynes had 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and seven steals for the Black Bears, who improved to 11-15 overall and 5-8 in the conference.

With the win, Maine assured itself of a spot in the conference tournament for the first time since 2020 and eliminated Albany (7-22, 2-12).

Gedi Juozpaitis scored 17 points for Maine, while Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish had 11.

DaKquan Davis had 26 points, including six 3-pointers, for Albany.

SOUTHERN MAINE 91, WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE 84: Chance Dixon hit a 3-pointer with 1:44 left in the second overtime to give the Huskies (16-9, 10-6 LEC) the lead and they held on to beat the Wolves (21-4, 12-4) in Gorham.

Dixon finished with 23 points. Simon Chadbourne added 13, while Clay Kuhn and Mark Asara had 12 each.

COLBY 82, WESLEYAN 80: Max Poulton made a 3-pointer with 3:15 left to give the sixth-seeded Mules (18-7, 6-5 NESCAC) the lead and they held on to upset the No. 3 Cardinals (16-9, 7-4) in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in Middletown, Connecticut.

Noah Tyson and Lucas Green each had 22 points for Colby, which will play No. 2 Hamilton in the semifinals on Feb. 25. Poulton finished with 16 points and Will King had 11.

ST. JOSEPH’S 80, ELMS 60: Ian Jennings scored 14 points and Nicholas Curtis added 11 as the Monks (14-11, 10-7 GNAC) beat the Blazers (3-22, 2-16)  in their regular season finale in Standish.

SUFFOLK 70, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 61: William Rowe had 20 points and seven rebounds to power the Rams (16-9, 11-7 CCC) past the Nor’easters (2-23, 0-18) at Boston, Massachusetts.

Adrian Torres led UNE with 16 points. Winston Bryan added 13.

VERMONT TECH 52, SOUTHERN MAINE CC 51:  Jason Calvin scored 19 points and made a late 3-pointer to give the Knights (10-17, 7-7 YSCC) the lead in their win over the SeaWolves (16-9, 8-6) in South Portland.

DeSean Cromwell had 14 points and Jack Pyzynski 11 for SMCC.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ALBANY 53, UMAINE 50: Kayla Cooper scored four straight points to give the Great Danes (19-10, 13-2 American East) a three-point lead with 1:54 left and they held on to beat the Black Bears (13-13, 9-5) in Albany, New York.

Cooper finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds for Albany. Helene Hagerstrand added 17 points.

Adrianna Smith had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Black Bears. Paula Gallego added 13 points.

SOUTHERN MAINE 71, WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE 54: Franny Ramsdell scored 26 points and grabbed six rebounds as the Huskies (7-17, 5-10 LEC) beat the Wolves (12-11, 5-10) in Gorham.

Amy Fleming added 11 points, while Tamrah Gould had 10 for Southern Maine.

SUFFOLK 62, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 59: Maddie Stewart scored seven of her 18 points in the second quarter as the Rams (13-12, 8-10 CCC) outscored the Nor’easters (17-8, 13-5) by 12 points to take the lead and held on for the win in Boston.

Faye Veilleux had 20 points and Keagan Dunbar added 13 for UNE.

ST. JOSEPH’S 78, ELMS 51: Elisabeth Stapelfeld scored 14 points, and Hailey Anderson and Hannah Talon each had 11 as the Monks (20-5, 15-2 GNAC) cruised past the Blazers (9-16, 4-14) at Standish.

Mikayla Van Zandt and Angelica Hurley chipped in with 10 points each.

TUFTS 75, BOWDOIN 61: Maggie Russell scored 40 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the No. 1 seed Jumbos (19-6, 10-1 NESCAC) beat the No. 8 Polar Bears (15-10, 4-7) in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in Medford, Massachusetts.

Sydney Jones had 16 points, while Carly Davey and Sela Kay each had 10 for Bowdoin.

WILLIAMS 62, BATES 55: Mia Holtze scored 16 points, Maddy Mandyck had 15 and Arianna Gerig 14 as the second-seeded Ephs (19-7, 8-2 NESCAC) beat the No. 7 Bobcats (13-12, 5-5) in a conference quarterfinal game in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Alexandra Long had 19 points, while Meghan Graff added 11 for Bates.

SOUTHERN MAINE CC 86, VERMONT TECH 42: Tara Flanders had 22 points as the SeaWolves (18-7, 11-3 YSCC) beat the Knights (6-13, 4-10) in South Portland.

MEN’S HOCKEY

MAINE 0, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0: Victor Ostman made 27 saves for the Black Bears (13-13-5, 7-9-4 Hockey East) and Tyler Muszelik had 29 saves for the Wildcats (11-18-3, 6-13-3) as the two teams played to a tie in Orono.

BOWDOIN 2, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 0: Jimmy Duffy and Gabe Shipper each scored as the Polar Bears (12-9-3, 6-9-3 NESCAC) beat the Camels (5-19, 2-16) in New London, Connecticut.

Ethan Kimball added an assist and Andy Kozic had 25 saves for the Polar Bears.

TUFTS 2, COLBY 0:  John Mulvihill and Harrison Bazianos each scored as the Jumbos (10-13-1, 7-10-1 NESCAC) beat the Mules (12-9-2, 10-7-1) in Medford, Massachusetts.

Andy Beran recorded 24 saves for Colby, while Peyton Durand had 39 for Tufts.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 5, WESTERN NEW ENGLAND 3: Five players scored as the Nor’easters (18-5-2, 11-7-2 CCC) beat the Golden Bears (7-17-1, 5-12) in Biddeford.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

MERRIMACK 3, MAINE 1: The Warriors (8-24-2, 5-20-2 Hockey East) scored twice in the third period to beat the Black Bears (15-17-2, 12-13-2) in Orono.

Ava Stevenson scored for Maine, while Brooklyn Oakes had 20 saves.

COLBY 2, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 1: Megan Rittenhouse scored in the third period as the Mules (16-6, 10-6 NESCAC) beat the Camels (12-11-1, 6-9-1) in Waterville.

Audrey Shirer scored in the first period for Colby and Kelly Matthews tied it just over five minutes later for Connecticut College.

WESTERN NEW ENGLAND 2, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 1: Kelley York scored in overtime as the Golden Bears (15-7-3, 9-7-2 CCC) beat the Nor’easters (8-14-2, 7-9-2) in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Hannah Humes scored in the first for UNE and Maggie Holt tied it for Western New England less than a minute later.

BASEBALL

MAINE 11, PITT 7:  Matt McElwain went 3 for 5 with a home run and three RBI as the Black Bears (1-1) defeated the Panthers (1-1) in a non-conference game in Sarasota, Florida.

SOFTBALL

INDIANA STATE 8, MAINE 0: The Black Beras (3-5) were no-hit in a five-inning loss to the Sycamores.

Lauren Sackett struck out eight and walked one for Indiana State.

Caitlyn Fallon allowed five earned runs on seven hits in three innings for Maine.

MAINE 5, WESTERN ILLINOIS 4:  Kyrah Haba-Dailey scored on a throwing error on Gabby Papuska’s sacrifice bunt in the top of the eighth inning as the Black Bears (3-4) topped the Bulldogs (4-3) at Chattanooga, Tennesee.

Grace McGouldrick was 2 for 4 for Maine, while Alysen Reith picked up the win with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, stiking out a pair.