ORONO —With an overall record of 16-44 the last two seasons, the University of Maine men’s basketball team knows something has been missing.

After talking amongst themselves during the off-season, the Black Bears think they know what void needs to be filled first.

“A lot of our talk was about mentality and leadership,” said junior forward Sean McNally of Gardiner. “Something that we’ve lacked the last two years is just getting three or four of us, whether we’re upperclassmen or lowerclassmen, to step up and take the leadership role.”

“I really think that’s what is going to take us to the next step,” he added. “Me, Troy (Barnies) and Junior (Bernal) have really been talking about taking this team on our back.”

Fifth-year head coach Ted Woodward endorses the trio, all products of Maine high schools, taking the leadership reigns and pointing the Black Bears into contention in America East.

“It’s their time,” he said. “Like anything, you have to be vested to be able to step up and do those different types of things in a program, but I can’t tell you how happy I am with the leadership they’ve shown.”

The Black Bears (9-21, 4-12 conference last year) admit they will need more than leadership if they are to finish better than the eighth place the conference coaches predicted for them in their preseason poll.

For one, they will need to replace two transfers, Doran Mitchell and leading scorer Mark Socoby (12.3 ppg). Maine returns its next two top scorers from last year, Gerald McLemore, a 6-3 guard who was an America East All-Rookie selection after averaging 12.1 ppg as a freshman, and McNally (9.6 ppg), a 6-foot-7, 255-pound forward who led the Bears in rebounding (7.4 per game). 

Maine will also have to finish its conference games better and play more consistently at both ends of the floor, Bernal said.

“We saw last year what we could do once we focused, played defense and ran our offense well,” said point guard Bernal, who played at Hyde School and is Maine’s lone senior. “I think we’re more mature this year with the returners, and the new guys are picking everything up. We know if we keep working hard and applying ourselves, that’s definitely going to lead to success this season.”

Barnies, a forward from Auburn, added 10 pounds to his 6-foot-7 frame in hopes of becoming more of a presence in the paint at both ends for his junior season. Travon Wilcher, a sophomore transfer from UMass, should also help in that area once he becomes eligible after sitting out the first semester.

The athleticism of Barnies, McLemore and others gives the Black Bears the incentive to look for transition offense, but Woodward thinks his team will be able to score in many different ways.

“We feel like we have a number of different elements to go to,” Woodward said, “but we feel like we’ve got as strong of a post as anybody in the league. We’ve got as much experience at the point guard as anybody in our league. And we feel like we’ve got a perimeter player that has a chance to be as good as anyone in the league.”

Wilcher as well as junior college transfers Jerrell Boswell and Terrance Mitchell, both guards, have turned heads in the preseason. 

“I don’t know what they have done before coming to this team, but I know from playing with them in the preseason I’m pretty excited about how they’re going to add to our team,” Barnies said.

Junior Malachi Peay, sophomore Andrew Rogers, Wayne sophomore Ryan Martin and redshirt freshman Jon McAllian of Bangor add to the backcourt depth. Sophomore Svetoslav Chetinov, a 6-foot-9 forward/center from Bulgaria, and freshmen Mike Allison and Murphy Burnatowski, both members of the Canadian Junior National team, figure in the frontcourt mix.

Maine opens its season with four consecutive road games, starting at Fordham on Friday. The Bears begin their home schedule against Quinnipiac on Nov. 24, then get ready for road games at Syracuse, Connecticut and Boston College. 

The Black Bears hope the tough late December-early January stretch prepares them for their conference schedule that kicks off on Jan. 7 at Alfond Arena against Vermont, which was picked to finish second in the league behind Boston University. They believe that by the time the America East tournament rolls around in March, they will have put together a conference champion with no missing ingredients.

“We don’t expect anything less because of how our team chemistry is and how we’ve been playing in the preseason,” Barnies said. “I’m really excited about how this season is going to be. I love the team we have now.”