Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Basketball honored its five graduating players ahead of a 79-76 victory over UMaine-Augusta on Wednesday night at Kirk Hall. Five different players scored in double figures, including a game-high 26 points and double-double from sophomore Khaden Moore. The win completes a season sweep of the Moose to keep the Mustangs in first place in the YSCC with a 13-1 conference record.
Moore, Ayden Jefferson, Toni Milevcic, J.T. Pound, and Alexandre Brigitte were the five graduating players acknowledged before tip-off. Each was presented with a framed portrait and brought onto the floor to take a photo with friends or family.
The game was a highly anticipated one with a packed house and local media in attendance to see the top two teams in the Yankee Small College Conference face off. It was also the return of UMA head coach, and former CMCC assistant, Steve Carey to his old gym, as well as former Mustangs players Rocco Chang and Ben Francis.
Neither team needed any time to get warmed up, combining for 13 points in the first two minutes. Will Duke canned a three-pointer, converted a layup, and had three steals to put Central Maine up 7-6 early. The lead seesawed back-and-forth six times in the first six minutes.
UMaine-Augusta broke a 16-16 tie and led for the rest of the half. Multiple shots by Khalif Bettis and Will Francis helped build an 11-point advantage, the Moose's largest lead of the game, up 38-27 with 5:25 remaining. Chang went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and had 11 points in the first 20 minutes. Moore helped keep things close by shooting 6-for-10 from the field, but the Mustangs still trailed 46-40 at the halftime break.
The lead did not survive the first minute of the second half. Ryan White came out and hit two big triples to tie the game, and Moore put the hosts back out in front with a layup. In total, a 12-1 run in the first three minutes made it 52-47 CMCC and forced UMA to spend a full timeout. Momentum flipped on four straight points from Bettis to trim the deficit to one, and an emphatic dunk by Kobe Edwards to make it 55-54.
The teams stayed within four points of each other for the final 16 minutes and there were seven lead changes, showing how close and hard-fought the action was. Brigitte made it 65-64 Mustangs after an unselfish pass by a double-teamed Moore set up a wide-open layup. UMaine-Augusta went back in front with 2:57 remaining on an Aviyon Matthews three-pointer and did it again with 1:02 left when Edwards laced a trey to make it 76-75.
Pound hit one of the biggest shots of his career on the next possession off a timeout, knocking down a jumper to give the hosts the lead for good. Neither Chang or Bettis could convert threes on either side of two Duke free throws, and Moore secured the rebound as time expired for the victory.
Each team had five players with ten or more points. Moore (26), Duke (15), White (11), Da'Vohn Jonas (11), and Pound (10) did it for Central Maine while Edwards (15), Chang (13), Bettis (12), Matthews (11), and Will Francis (11) were the five for UMaine-Augusta. Moore added 11 rebounds for this third double-double of the campaign while Jonas and Pound were also strong on the boards with nine and eight respectively. Duke had a season-high five steals in the win.
CMCC gets back on the court on Thursday night on the road against Great Bay before having nearly two full weeks to prepare for archrival SMCC in the regular season finale. Tip-off against the Herons is scheduled for 8:00 pm.
