Mustangs, Seawolves Go Down to the Wire, SMCC Prevails 62-59

Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Basketball fell one shot shy against Southern Maine Community College in a hard-fought YSCC matchup that lived up to expectations for the rivalry game. The Seawolves pulled out a 62-59 win over the Mustangs in front of a standing room only crowd at Kirk Hall in Auburn, spoiling the ending to a night when the men's team honored its two graduating players, and avenging a loss to Central Maine on their own floor at the end of the first semester.

"I'm very proud of the way our kids handled themselves," said head coach Dave Gonyea after the game. "I thought they worked very hard and executed pretty well. We did not shoot as well as I thought we could have, but proud of how they stayed in the game right to the end."

The graduating duo of Wyatt Hathaway and Rocco Chang were acknowledged by the team before tip-off, and both played a part in the first half. The pair of guards knocked down two shots apiece in a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes where the lead swapped hands four times.

Back-to-back Will Duke three-pointers gave the hosts a 23-19 lead with five minutes remaining before halftime. Ben Francis had a layup with 21 seconds left to put CMCC on top 31-24 going into the locker room.

The Mustangs led by as many as ten early in the second half after J.T. Pound knocked down a triple after 2:12. However, the Seawolves refused to go quietly into the night. A mini 7-2 run cut the deficit to 47-44 by the midway point, and Cole Pulkkinen tied the game with a deep three-pointer before putting the visitors up 51-49 on the next possession.

Duke traded threes with Thomas Martinotti leaving things tied again at 54-54 with 6:17 left on the clock. A massive dunk by Khaden Moore got the home fans roaring again with four minutes to go, and a layup by Pound gave Central Maine a 59-58 lead with 2:28 remaining.

But those would be the last two points of the game for CMCC. A Sean Bosia jumper leapfrogged the visitors back in front. Five straight missed shots between the sides set the stage for a frantic final 11 seconds. Chang drew a foul on a drive to the hoop with six seconds left but could not convert either free throw. Charlie Houghton hit a pair from the charity stripe on the other end leaving the Mustangs with one final inbound play to try and tie the game.

Unlike the game in South Portland back in December, there would be no heroic buzzer beater here. Chang's last-ditch three missed wide left to end the game, 62-59.

Duke and Pound paced Central Maine with 14 and 13 points respectively, while all ten players who saw the floor scored at least one basket. Houghton had a game-high 17 points for Southern Maine, with Martinotti (12) and Nathan Mugisha (10) joining him in double figures. The rivalry contest featured eight lead changes and seven ties despite CMCC only shooting 32.9% compared to SMCC's 41.8% from the field. The rebound battle was even at 36-36, but the Seawolves did turn the ball over 17 times to give the Mustangs a chance late on.

CMCC falls to 15-12 overall and 11-4 in conference play. The Mustangs are currently third in the Yankee Small College Conference standings while the Seawolves are up to fifth after a remarkable turnaround, rallying from a 0-12 first semester to sit at 9-15 heading into their final game.

"We have four games left in the YSCC if we win out," Gonyea said. "I told our kids in the locker room we got beat by a better team tonight, but life moves on and we come back Saturday looking to regroup and start over again."

Central Maine takes on the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in their regular season finale, still with a chance to claim the #1 seed in the upcoming YSCC Tournament if results go their way. The Mustangs and Panthers play on Saturday, February 15^th at 3:00 pm in Auburn.