Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Basketball suffered its first defeat of 2025, losing on its home court to Bryant & Stratton College-Albany, 74-63. Wyatt Hathaway had 16 points behind five three-pointers and the Mustangs outscored the Bobcats 40-39 in the second half, but it wasn't enough for the team to rally back for the victory.
Central Maine led for the majority of the first half, before the Bobcats took the lead for good with 2:14 remaining on the clock. Three-pointers by Hathaway and Will Duke gave the Mustangs leads of 9-2 and 15-8 through the opening minutes. Bryce Simmons and Zaveon Little kept the visitors close and turned the opening stanza into a back-and-forth affair for the majority of the time.
Bryant & Stratton went on a run to pull away before halftime, starting with a layup by Denali Burton to make it 26-24. Amari Scott knocked down a three and Little threw down a dunk before hitting a trey of his own to make it 34-24 at the intermission.
The Bobcats led by as many as 16 points in the second half before CMCC began to rally. Back-to-back threes by Hathaway and Ben Francis cut the lead to 10. Rocco Chang got it back to that point with 6:03 to play with a layup to make it 62-52, but that was as close as the Mustangs would come. BSC-Albany managed the lead from there to hold on for the 11-point victory and hand Central Maine its first defeat since November 23rd.
Hathaway (16) and Duke (10) were the only Mustangs to finish in double figures. Khaden Moore had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds while Chang ended with nine points off the bench. Simmons and Little paced Bryant & Stratton-Albany with 20 points each. The Bobcats won the rebound battle 39-33 and outscored CMCC in the paint 26-16.
Next up for the men's team, a return to Yankee Small College Conference play vs Word of Life Bible Institute on Saturday, January 18th. Game time is slated for 6:00 pm.
