Men’s Basketball Snaps Two-Game Win Streak In Rhode Island

WARWICK, R.I.—The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) men's basketball team suffered a 71-65 defeat to the Knights of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) in a non-conference affair on Saturday, Jan. 5.

The SeaWolves were slow to start, limited to just 25 points in the first half—their lowest total of the season. The road team answered with a promising 40-point second half to outscore the Knights by six, but the comeback would prove insurmountable. Senior captain Atencio Martin (Kittery, Maine) led his team with 19 points followed by fellow senior captain Ryan Cloutier's (Pelham, N.H.) 12—both players notching their eleventh game in double figures.

CCRI made it work with a balanced attack. Five finished in double digit scoring led by J.C. Santos' 13. Oscar Itejicontrolled the glass totaling 15 rebounds in 30 minutes of action.

Associate Head Coach AJ Burton reflected, "We simply didn't execute early on and when we finally flipped the switch, we ran out of time to recover the deficit. This just a bump in the road as we look to get back on track with a heavy dose of conference scheduling coming up."

SMCC suffers its second loss away from The HUB to move to 10-3 overall. The Knights win their third straight and improve to 13-3 thus far.

The SeaWolves continue their road slate, this time northbound to battle the Moose from the University of Maine at Augusta in a Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) showdown on Wednesday, Jan. 9. Tip-off at the Augusta Civic Center is scheduled for 8 p.m. WATCH.

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