South Portland, ME – CMCC Men's Basketball rounded out its regular season campaign with an 80-76 loss to archrival SMCC. The Mustangs and Seawolves were neck-and-neck for most of the game with neither team leading by more than five points for the entire second half, but two late turnovers gave the hosts the edge they needed to see out the win. Khaden Moore led Central Maine with a double-double effort, racking up 25 points and 15 rebounds.
"We ask our players to commit to two things, playing hard and being coachable," said head coach Dave Gonyea. "I thought we demonstrated both last night. Although we came up short, our effort was outstanding and our key players delivered strong performances. Khaden was dominant in the paint and controlled the interior. Tay (Keiontay) did an excellent job running the offense and knocked down several big shots. Two costly turnovers in the final minutes hurt us, but we'll review the film and work to clean up those mistakes. I suspect we will see SMCC again in the Yankee tournament."
Southern Maine capitalized on the crowd's energy following their senior night ceremony, racing out to its biggest lead of the ball game in the first five minutes. Sean Bosia, Nathan Mugisha, Chance Mercier, and Ellis Macea combined to put the hosts up 14-6 after 4:54.
Central Maine slowly turned the tide in its favor, getting back-to-back layups from Creighty Dickson and Ryan White to pull within one. After a Mercier layup on the other end, Dickson canned a three-pointer to tie the game at 20-20. A Da'Vohn Jonas triple gave the Mustangs its first lead up 25-23 with 6:41 left in the half. Moore stretched the lead to as high as four points before Mercier connected on two straight possessions to give the Seawolves a 36-33 lead going into the break.
The second half was a game of counterpunches. Keiontay Marsh knocked down a three on the first possession to tie the score again, the first of six times the teams would be even in the final 20 minutes. A Marsh jumper and Moore dunk put CMCC up 57-53 with 10:20 remaining. SMCC countered with back-to-back Jace Bessey three-pointers to lead 61-59 with 8:09 left. The game was tied for the final time at 73-73 on a Jonas layup with 3:20 on the clock.
Central Maine had the ball with 2:19 left coming off a full timeout. That's when Southern Maine made its two biggest stops of the night. J.T. Pound was stripped of the ball going up for a layup, springing Mercier for a fastbreak layup. Macea then ripped away a pass from Jonas, giving Mercier another easy bunny to suddenly put the Seawolves up 77-73 with 1:31 to play.
Pound knocked down a three-pointer with half a minute to go. Sam Dewitt converted one free throw at the line, meaning the Mustangs had one final chance down two. However, Marsh's contested layup in the paint hit the front rim, and Mercier sealed the deal at the line with two foul shots with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Moore's performance gave the USCAA All-American forward his 23rd game this season with double-digit points, his 12th game scoring 20+, and his fifth double-double. Jonas (19) and Marsh (12) joined him in double figures. Dickson finished with five points and eight rebounds while Duke had a team-high four assists. Mercier led all scorers with 27 for Southern Maine. The Mustangs had the edge on the boards winning the rebound battle 43-29, but the Seawolves shot slightly better from the floor at 48.4% compared to 45.1%.
With the loss, CMCC ends the regular season with a 20-10 overall record and a 13-3 mark in conference play. The Mustangs still have a chance to take the #1 overall seed in the upcoming YSCC Tournament, which will be hosted in Auburn. SMCC sets a program record with 13 straight wins with the victory, taking on VTSU-Randolph for their regular season finale on Saturday.
The YSCC Tournament opens on Friday, February 20th with two men's basketball quarterfinals at Kirk Hall starting at 5:00 pm. Saturday features a packed slate with four games before the men's and women's championship games are played on Sunday afternoon.
