ORONO, Maine -- Chandler Rhoads scored 18 points and New Hampshire survived a Maine comeback for a 57-54 victory Wednesday night in America East play.

The Wildcats (6-14, 2-6) opened a 35-22 halftime lead behind the shooting of Rhoads, who scored 10 of his points in the first half, and Chris Matagrano. He scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half, hitting 4 of 4 field goal attempts, his only 3-pointer and both free throws.

But Maine, behind Alasdair Fraser (20 points), closed the gap.

The Black Bears (8-13, 3-5) finally tied it at 52-all on Mike Allison's layup with 2:15 to play. But with New Hampshire leading 55-54 and 10 seconds left, the Wildcats' Patrick Konan missed a free throw.

Matagrano, however, grabbed the offensive rebound. He was fouled and sank two free throws for a 57-54 lead.

Maine's Zarko Valjarevic missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.