Auburn, ME – Basketball is a game on momentum and tempo. The Mustangs managed to control both Thursday night at the home team downed the Moose of UMA 82-75 at Kirk Hall. The squad just came off a key win over Bryan Stratton Tuesday and went into the contest on a high and added momentum.
CM took an early lead, controlled tempo throughout the first half and went to the locker room up 45-36.
Early in the second half, CM went on a 13-2 run to extend the lead to 17 points. Despite being shorthanded with eight players, the Moose would not go away in the second half. Yonas Medfu stroked for 26 points (8-18) to bring the Moose back to cut the lead to 5 points. A mini Mustang run brought the lead back to 10 points and UMA played catch up from there.
Coach Gonyea offers, "we knew going in they could be a dangerous team. They can shoot the ball, go on runs, and if we were not careful, upset us in our own gym. We were down Mpore which is a major loss for us right now with a hip pointer. We expect him back soon. Malik went down in the first half as well so it was next man up to eat some minutes. I was especially pleased with Jonah Mincey, who hasn't seen many minutes this season, who saw his opportunity and took full advantage of it. He was key in igniting a mid-second half rally. With our injury count, we need guys to step up and we have those guys."
Boston Caldwell (9-17) shooting led the team with 21 points. Wyatt Hathaway Jaeden Henderson added 14 points each.
CM travels to New York this weekend to take on Albany College of Pharmacy and Paul Smith's College.