Mustangs Shoot Lights Out, Eliminate Huskies 98-67

Auburn, ME – The #2 seeded CMCC Men's Basketball team is on to the YSCC Final Four after a 98-67 victory over #7 Word of Life Bible Institute on Saturday at Kirk Hall. The Mustangs made more than half their shots from the field. Senior captain Wyatt Hathaway hit seven three-pointers and freshman forward Khaden Moore put up a team-high 22 points, as the hosts advanced to the conference semifinals for the ninth straight season.

"I was very happy with both our defensive and offensive play, and that we could get a lot of kids into the game," said head coach Dave Gonyea. "I think Khaden (Moore) was a man amongst boys and it was nice to see Wyatt back shooting the way he's capable of. It was a great team effort all around."

WOLBI came out swinging in the first half, as the Huskies looked to pull the upset. Lukas Parschauer and Hayden Jordan each hit two threes in the first four minutes to put the visitors up 12-7 early on.

That's when the Mustangs' offense kicked into high gear. Da'Vohn Jonas sparked an 18-2 run over the next 3:35, scoring five points. That was followed by back-to-back layups from Moore, and finally three straight triples by Hathaway who quickly got dialed in from outside.

Central Maine never trailed from that point on, though Word of Life did close to within one point with five minutes remaining in the first half. Eight different players scored for CMCC in the first 20 minutes, with Jonas capping the opening stanza with a layup to give him ten first-half points. The Mustangs led 43-35 heading into the intermission.

The offense was relentless after the halftime break, continuing a run that began with two minutes left in the first and ended as a 22-3 onslaught after just 3:44 into the second. CMCC was up 59-38 at that point and managed its lead the rest of the way to secure the victory.

A total of 13 players saw the floor in the second half, with nine different Mustangs making at least one bucket. Central Maine led by as many as 38 in the closing stages before ending one basket shy of triple digits. It was the team's highest point total since putting up 109 points vs Paul Smith's College back on December 7^th.

Hathaway's 21 points left him one behind Moore's total, with Will Duke (16) and Jonas (12) also reaching double figures. J.T. Pound posted eight points and pulled down 11 boards to help CMCC outrebound WOLBI 41 to 33. The Mustangs shot 51.3% from the field and were 12-for-29 from beyond the arc.

Central Maine now advances to next weekend's Final Four where they will face #3 Vermont State University-Randolph on Saturday in South Portland, ME. CM is in search of its first Yankee Small College Conference championship in more than a decade after winning the 2014 edition, which was also held at Southern Maine Community College.

"It's like a second home for us," coach Gonyea said of SMCC's Hutchinson Union Building. "We play down there all the time. Vermont is great competition for us. We split with them in the regular season so it's anybody's game. We'll prepare all week for them and go from there."

Both the Mustangs and Knights won at home in their meetings this season, setting up a winner-take-all showdown on a neutral court to see who advances to Sunday's championship game. The start time is still to be announced.