Machias, ME - For CM to qualify for a bid to the USCAA National Basketball Tournament the team must win three games in three days in the Yankee Tournament. In preparing for this opportunity the squad plays a few back to back to back's each year. This weekend was one of those challenges. The Mustangs responded!
After playing on the road in Holyoke, Massachusetts on Friday night and returning home at 2am—just in time to get a few hours' sleep before hosting Great Bay at 3pm Saturday, CM enjoyed another early wake up to travel to the University of Maine Machias for a 3pm tipoff.
Successful wins the first two days gave the Mustangs some momentum going into Sunday. However, the best news of the day was Australian sensation Pietro Badalassi was back on the court for the first time this semester after recovering from an injury. What a comeback it was!
Pietro's comeback gave the visitors the emotional lift they needed and defeated the University of Machias 102-92 in a hard fought basketball game. Badalassi registered 19 points on a 7-12 shooting performance and hauled down 6 rebounds with 4 assists thrown in!
Floor general Rob Skinner (Winsted, CT) was again the difference maker. Rob controlled the pace of the game managing to find his teammates at key times and hit big shots when needed. Rob finished with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
All conference Player Carrington Miller (Bingham, ME) was again the big man in the middle. He followed up Rob with 21 points and 5 rebounds and did a stellar job on the big men of Machias.
CM jumped ahead early in the first half and never lost the lead again. Jordan White (Providence, RI) came off the bench to contribute 17 points on a 6-8 shooting performance.
The win increases the Mustangs conference record to 7-2 and 16-6 overall.
The Mustangs take some time off to rest and head to the University of Presque Isle Saturday to take on the Owls.