AUBURN – Edward Little isn’t interested in moral victories like pushing the elite team in the KVAC to the brink. A year ago at this time, the Red Eddies were the elite team in the conference.

So it was a long walk back to their locker room after Friday night’s 56-53 loss to unbeaten Bangor. Despite dropping to .500 (3-3) with the defeat, EL still has elitist aspirations.

“After last year, and so many of these kids played last year, we don’t want to play somebody tough and lose,” EL coach Mike Adams said. “We wanted to win that game because so many people doubt us.”

Utilizing their quickness to neutralize Bangor’s superior size at both ends, the Eddies nearly pulled it off. But Bangor made more free throws and one more defensive stop in the fourth quarter to keep its record clean.

Kyle Philbrook and Eric Prue tallied 16 points apiece for the Eddies. Jon McAllian, who will play at the University of Maine next year, led Bangor (6-0) with 23 points, while Ryan Weston added 13.

Trailing by four with 3:13 to go, Philbrook made one-of-two and Ben Hartnett (six points, six rebounds) sank a pair from the free throw line to pull the Eddies within a point with 1:33 left. After Adam Bernstein missed from inside for Bangor with just over a minute left, EL called a timeout and decided to work the clock down for one final shot to win it.

Junior forward Corey Therriault spun into the lane from the left elbow and got off a leaner with his right hand as he fell between two defenders. The ball ricocheted off the side of the rim and Ian Edwards (11 rebounds) hauled it in before an EL player knocked it out of bounds.

McAllian was fouled on the subsequent inbounds and drilled both freebies with four seconds left. Hartnett’s halfcourt heave fell well shy of the hoop just before the buzzer.

While both teams struggled from the field in the four quarter, Bangor shot 10-for-12 from the charity stripe. EL hit just 6-of-11.

McAllian, a 6-foot-4 guard, ran the point for the first time this year for the Rams and for the most part, did a good job of getting them through the Eddies’ zone press. But Bangor was not able to work the ball inside as much as it would have liked and, with EL overplaying the perimeter passing lanes, turned the ball over 20 times.

“I think more than anything it was our guards keeping the dribble penetration to a minimum. They still got more than we’d like, but that’s because we’re coaches,” Adams said.

The Eddies (six turnovers) took exceptional care of the basketball, which helped bail them out of some poor shooting (31 percent).

Not that they were taking poor shots. EL had a number of lay-up opportunities roll out as the Rams opened a 22-11 lead in the second quarter.

“We wanted to play cat-and-mouse in the halfcourt offense with them,” Adams said. “We wanted to push it when we could, and we did, but we also wanted to make sure we used our quickness and our ability to cut, because they’re so big.”

A pair of Prue 3-pointers helped EL whittle the deficit down to eight at the half. Philbrook started heating up in the third quarter, as he and Prue teamed up from long range to spark a 16-4 EL run. Mukhtar Sharif tied the game with two free throws. Sean Daigle gave the Eddies their first lead late in the third before Philbrook extended the lead to its largest point with a 3-pointer that made it 42-37.

“I thought a number of times we allowed people to face-cut us and other times I thought we were a little bit slow in the help-side situations,” Bangor coach Roger Reed said. “You’ve got to give credit to them. They played very, very well, and they made big shots throughout the game.”

Billy Zolper’s first field goal, a 3-pointer, put the Rams back in front early in the fourth. The lead changed hands four more times before McAllian put Bangor in front to say with a pair of free throws with 5:26 left.