SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine— The Southern Maine Community College men's basketball team defeated the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) Knights of Vermont Technical College in dramatic fashion on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the HUB Gymnasium by a score of 69-66.
Three scored in double digits for SeaWolves. Captain John Morgan (Sanford, Maine) led his team with 18 points and added eight rebounds. Both sophomore Ryan Cloutier (Pelham, N.H.) and first-year Anthony Lobor (Portland, Maine) tallied 16 points. Off the bench, SMCC outscored its opponent 25-13.
This game had the makings of a thriller as the Knights entered play leading all YSCC teams with three conference wins. The SeaWolves took a 35-28 lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Knights came out in the second to string together a 8-0 run and re-take the lead— one of 11 lead changes in the game.
Vermont held its biggest lead of the evening, a seven-point advantage, with 11:44 left on the clock, but SMCC would come back to life on a 9-0 run to go up 52-50. With one minute remaining, Morgan knocked down two free throws to give the home team a three-point lead. The Knights answered with a bucket and a free throw on the other end and evened the score at 66-66.
With 11 seconds left in regulation, Head Coach Matt Richards called a timeout to draw up the last shot of the game. Senior Michael Harmon (Portland, Maine) found himself with the ball on the wing who pump-faked his defender, and stepped up to drill a three-pointer leaving Vermont with one second on the clock.
In a post-game interview, Harmon spoke about the final play coming out of the timeout. "Coach said to play our game— slow the ball down, try to run the clock, and get a good shot on the other side. And that's what we did."
On his team's ability to stay composed and execute with the game on the line, Cloutier commented, "It's all about mental toughness. If we keep our heads in these games, we got this."
View the photo gallery of the game HERE.
With this win, SMCC climbs into first place in the YSCC standings at 2-0 in conference play. The SeaWolves have won five straight and improve to 7-1 overall.
The SeaWolves will travel to the Augusta Civic Center Tuesday, Nov. 22 to battle the Moose of the University of Maine- Augusta in another YSCC divisional showdown. The Moose will enter play at 1-3 in conference standings, and 2-3 overall. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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