Auburn, ME – Men's Basketball held off a second half rally from Berkeley College to earn an 84-81 victory on its home court Friday night. The Mustangs led by as many as 19 before the Knights made it a one-possession battle in the final five minutes. Khaden Moore paced the team with 18 points and three others finished in double figures.

The Mustangs raced out of the gate, building a 20-8 lead in the first five minutes behind some hot outside shooting. Wyatt Hathaway, Da'Vohn Jonas, and Will Duke combined for four three-pointers. Berkeley closed to within two towards the end of the first half before head coach Dave Gonyea turned to his bigs for some points in the paint, going up 47-38 at the break. Issac Irwin and J.T. Pound each had six points by halftime.

Duke and Hathaway both connected from outside early in the second half, and Moore and Jonas both three down dunks inside the first five minutes. It looked like Central Maine might run away with it against their UCAA DI opponents before the Knights comeback effort began.

Julio Wallace and Deontay Sprattley combined for 23 points in the final 20 minutes, rallying back from a 45-64 deficit. Ike Sheppard connected on a three-pointer with 4:23 left in the contest to tie the score at 72-72.

A Wallace layup put Berkeley on top 81-80 with just 41 seconds to go before CMCC ended their run. Moore made his eighth and final bucket of the night to leapfrog back in front, Hathaway connected on a pair of free throws in the final seconds, and Sheppard missed a desperation three at the buzzer as the Mustangs hung on for the win.

Moore put up a double-double on 18 points and 10 rebounds. Hathaway ended with 13 on a 3-for-7 night from outside. Duke had 12 points and dished out eight assists while Jonas finished with 10 points of his own. Pound was one shy of a double-double himself after a nine point and 12 rebound effort.

The game was the first of three on the weekend for Central Maine, who returned to the .500 mark at 6-6 an overall. It was the final non-conference game of 2024 for CMCC before they host Bryant & Stratton-Albany on January 12th.