AUBURN - Central Maine Community College's ardent camaraderie and overwhelming energy culminated in a swift and convincing 86-70 victory over the University of Maine at Fort Kent men's basketball team at Kirk Hall on Sunday afternoon.
The Mustang Express continues to peak, with CMCC (11-12 overall) winning six of the past eight games as the team moves closer to the postseason. The Mustangs have two away games left in the regular season against Southern Maine Community College and Albany College of Pharmacy.
(It was) a good win," CMCC coach Dave Gonyea said. "Eight-hour road trip last night. The kids got back in late … but playing at home helps. I thought in the early going we had a lot of guys in and out. I thought we shot the ball really well - selective shooting. I am just really happy with how hard the kids worked today.
"I just thought we played better together and we have been preaching that a lot. But the other side here is Jeremiah Simeon. Jeremiah really holds us together a lot and does a lot of the dirty work. He rebounds. He has good screens, good defense. He just works very hard."
Simeon pulled down eight rebounds and scored seven points. The sophomore forward said consistency played a key role in the Mustangs' victory.
"I think up and down, we did a good job of being consistent," Simeon said. "We did a good job playing defense. Coming out, we had all of our seniors starting and once we kept making the changes switching people in and out, we were all able to stay on the same page defensively. That was the main thing.
"Offensively, we ran our sets well and executed. I think that was the best part and our shooting was on, and when it wasn't, we found ways to score inside and get fast breaks started - just get small baskets that add up."
For the Mustangs, a victory over a Division III university was indeed a pick-me-up for the team, which shot 47.6 percent from the floor. But what was particularly impressive was CMCC's performance at the free-throw line, with the team going 20 for 23 for 87 percent.
Forward Boston Caldwell led all scorers with 23 points followed by Wyatt Hathaway's 18. Hathaway dropped in five 3-pointers and was perfect from the charity stripe, going six for six.
"... Boston is shooting the ball well right now," Gonyea said. Wyatt is shooting the ball well right now. Our bigs are playing pretty well. It is a good way to go into the game on Wednesday (against SMCC) right now."
Caldwell was delighted to overpower a Division III squad like UMFK, which beat the Mustangs 83-81 back in November.
"It is always good to beat a school that is ranked higher than us and plays in a higher division and we can showcase talented players and what we can do on the floor - and we all just came together and worked well as a team …," Caldwell said. "We just had energy. We all moved the ball well. We had a long day yesterday."
Jackson Birmingham, who has no problem barreling past a hoard of defenders for a layup, helped out with 14 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and went 8-for-9 at the foul line. Harry Bates scored six back-to-back points in the first half to finish the evening with 13.
"(Jackson) has an incredible motor that can go, go, go," Gonyea said. "Well, he plays recklessly, but he is a competitor. He is very passionate and he's the gas that makes us go."
After a back-and-forth first half, the Bengals slipped away with a 41-40 lead at halftime.
But the Mustangs flourished in the opening minutes of the second half, moving out in front with a 48-41 lead, but it was Birmingham's tenacious drives to the hoop and productive trips to the foul line that gave CMCC a 73-60 lead. The Australian from Queensland scored 10 consecutive points to help put the Mustangs out in front for good.
