Augusta, ME – Basketball is a game of runs. Successful teams go on their own runs-- and has the ability to withstand their opponents runs. Wednesday night at the Augusta Civic Center the Mustangs faced an UMA squad that could, and would, go on a run. CM withstood an early second half 13-2 run to hold on to beat the Moose 97-91 in overtime.
In a game that featured many lead changes, CM managed to get in 12 different players attempting to keep fresh legs on the floor. Despite this effort, Wyatt Hathaway and Jaeden Henderson played 43 minutes apiece and big man DeMarco McKissis played 35 minutes.
Sharpshooter Boston Caldwell went down at halftime with a wrist injury and Cam Pollock was out with a leg injury which added to the stress and forced the Mustangs to go deeper to their bench. Fortunately, the "next man up" motto played out to the visitor's advantage as Josh Thomson came off the bench to get the offense organized contributing 9 points, 6 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Keagan Pitcher played only 10 minutes but hit a key three down the stretch to give the Mustangs the lead. Malik Foster only scored 4 points, but the timing was perfect—both buckets late in the game.
The halftime score saw the Mustangs down 42-40. Getting down early in the second half didn't seem to bother CM. UMA jumped out to a 11-point lead at the thirteen-minute mark. Enter Pitcher- who hit a three and a bucket to cut the lead and force a Moose time out. Solid Mustang defense keep the Moose at bay and the squad chipped away at the lead and took charge with five minutes to go. UMA refused to go away. Elijah Smith hit three three's and moved the score even. This set the stage for Wyatt Hathaway. The Moose went up 79-77 with 9 ticks on the clock. After a Mustang time out, Hathaway came off a McKissic screen and hit the shot to tie the game.
CM took off in overtime scoring eight straight points to hold on to a 97-91 win.
After the game Coach Gonyea stated, "With our injury situation and losing Boston early caused some anxiety. However, our bench guys came up big and helped tremendously. But at the end of the day, your best players have to get it done--veterans DeMarco and Jaeden led the way. I also can't say enough about Wyatt. He is simply a gamer and not afraid to take the shot and make a play."
Gonyea also added, "We knew the Moose were a good squad. Smith and Beals are all conference players and with their new additions, they will be a force to be reckoned with this season. We were fortunate to come home with the win."
Big DeMarco McKissic led the Mustangs with 31 points 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Henderson played his best game this season scoring 24 points and ripped down 13 rebounds. Hathaway hit for 17 points and also took down 4 rebounds.
Elijah Smith was the high man for the Moose with 29 points.
The win moves CM to 4-1 over all and 2-0 in the Yankee Conference.