New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.com and AExtra, will recap the previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

The Maine men’s basketball team finished the last two seasons with a winning record in conference play – the first time that has happened since the turn of the 21^st century.

Now, Maine will have the man who led them to those victories at the helm for the foreseeable future.

Head Coach Ted Woodward signed a contract extension on Thursday keeping him on the sidelines in Orono through the 2015 season.

Woodward, who's in his eighth year at Maine, has a career record of 97-125, but is 39-30 since the start of the 2009-10 year and has his team at 5-4 this season. His teams have also shown they can play against top-tier competition. The Black Bears nearly knocked off Notre Dame this season after defeating Penn. State (a 2011 NCAA Tournament team) last season and Boston College the year before.

The decision to renew Woodward’s contract was an easy decision for athletic director Steve Abbott.

“First of all, Ted runs such a solid program,” Abbott said in an interview with the Bangor Daily News. “He has brought terrific young men to the campus and provided them with an outstanding experience in all aspects of college life.”

Woodward and company will have a chance to improve on their 5-4 record tonight with a game at Brown.

You can read more from the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald about Woodward and his contract extension.

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