Rivalry Part 1: CMCC 96-SMCC 80

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine—The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) men's basketball team was defeated 96-80 by the rival Mustangs from Central Maine Community College (CMCC) in the first of two Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) meetings this season on Wednesday, Dec. 13.

In front of an electric crowd inside the Hutchinson Union Building, both teams traded buckets in the early stages before the Mustangs pulled ahead by 12 with 7:46 remaining in the half. The SeaWolves came storming back in part by Ryan Cloutier's (Pelham, N.H.) 15 first-half points to cut their deficit to four at the break.

SMCC was able to keep pace at the beginnings of the second, but could not string together enough stops on the defensive end to swing the momentum. As the tension surfaced, CMCC made one final push, a 17-3 run late in the half, that put the home team out of reach.

Junior co-captain Dylan Silvestri (Pelham, N.H.) notched his seventh double-double of the season going for 15 points and 11 rebounds; first-year Willie Brown (Willimantic, Conn.) contributed with his tenth double-digit scoring performance of his rookie season with 13.

Five finished in double-digits for the Mustangs led by Elijah Barbour (Warrenton, Va.) who nailed five three-pointers in 19 minutes of action. The Mustangs shot an astounding 18-31 (58.1 percent) from three-point territory to go along with 52.2 percent from the floor.

CMCC improves to 8-2 in YSCC play, 11-2 overall; SMCC slips to 5-2 in league action, 9-5 on the season.

The SeaWolves round out their first semester at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in a non-conference matinee on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. SMCC is 8-5 against the Midshipmen all-time.

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