Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Basketball continued its early-season tune up with a hard-fought game against NCAA DIII side UMaine-Farmington. The Mustangs led 47-40 at halftime and were tied with two minutes remaining, but could not hold on, falling 93-85 at game's end. Javion Jacobs led Central Maine with 22 points while UMF's Zach McLaughlin paced all scorers with 40 points.
The visitors stormed out to a seven-point lead in the first three minutes, but CMCC found its footing. The Mustangs responded with a 15-2 run to go up 15-9 thanks to Jacobs' finishing in the paint and Keiontay Marsh knocking down jumpers. The hosts led for the remainder of the half, building the lead as high as 11. Both Jacobs and J.T. Pound went into the break already scoring in double figures.
The Beavers came out in the second half shooting lights out, knocking down four of their first five attempts from beyond the arc. McLaughlin and Jason Reynolds each hit a pair in the first three minutes to vault back into the lead, 52-51.
From there, it was a dogfight through the second half. The lead seesawed back and forth seven times. Both teams shot above 50% in the final 20 minutes, but the Mustangs were burned by seven turnovers. Ryan White knocked down a jumper with 2:17 to play, tying the score at 83-83.
UMaine-Farmington would take control from there. Former SMCC Seawolves player Charlie Houghton made six free throws and hit a layup down the stretch to put the game away. The Mustangs missed three shots from deep in the final minute to drop their fifth contest of the month.
"Our goal from the start of the season has been to get a little better every game and keep taking steps forward," said head coach Dave Gonyea. "Sometimes that means we take three steps ahead and one step back, but tonight we probably took five steps forward. If you're not careful, negativity can creep into the locker room, and we don't let that happen. Early in the season, we've been trying out different lineups, giving a lot of guys a chance to get on the floor. We've gone from playing about 20 good minutes a game up in Canada to around 36 now. We're moving in the right direction. No matter what the score says, tonight was a good step forward for the team and for a lot of our individual players."
Pound and Will Duke joined Jacobs in double figures with 16 and 12 points respectively. Pound also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and finished tied with Duke and Creighty Dickson with five assists. The Mustangs shot 5-for-7 from three-point range in the first half, but went just 1-for-7 in the second.
UMF held an edge in rebounds, 32-22. Reynolds and Houghton supported McLaughlin's 40-point night by contributing 23 and 17 points respectively. The Beavers also hit 21 of 30 free throws to help seal the win late on.
The Mustangs look to turn the page in November, starting with a visit from UMaine-Fort Kent on Saturday. Central Maine then opens conference play with a trip to UMaine-Augusta on Wednesday, November 5th.
