RANDOLPH CENTER, Vt.—The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) men's basketball team suffered a 74-68 loss to the Knights of Vermont Technical College (VTC) in its last regular season game on Saturday, Feb. 11.
First-year Dennis Cummins (Abington, Mass.) erupted for a career-high 15 points spanning 28 minutes in the game. In addition to shooting four of 10 from the floor, Cummins recorded three assists. First-year Timothy Dixon (Plainville, Conn.) went for double-digits with 13 points as did captain John Morgan (Sanford, Maine) with 10. First-years Trenton Coleman-Bishop (Bethlehem, Pa.) and Anderson Kavutse (Westbrook, Maine) also contributed with big minutes.
At the half, the SeaWolves trailed the Knights 36-28. SMCC looked poised for a comeback, closing its deficit to five points with 3:48 remaining in regulation and then again to four with 23 seconds left. VTC would knock down its free-throws to eventually hang on for the victory.
The SeaWolves were able to get to the free-throw line 30 times (matching a season-high), but converted 18. Two-thirds of SMCC's total points were credited to its bench.
In a post-game interview, Head Coach Matt Richards reflected, "I was happy to give major minutes to our guys coming off the bench in a game with a playoff-like atmosphere. Mission accomplished today in fine-tuning some of our sets in preparation for post-season play this weekend."
View the photo gallery of the game HERE.
SMCC concludes its regular season at 12-2 in Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) play, and 20-6 overall. VTC finishes with an 11-4 conference record, 14-15 overall.
The SeaWolves will enter the YSCC Elite Eight Tournament as the second seed and match-up against the seventh-seeded University of Maine at Augusta in the quarter finals on Friday, Feb. 17. As part of a four-game slate hosted at SMCC, the SeaWolves will tip-off at 6:30 p.m.
For the latest on SMCC's athletic programs, log onto GoSMCCSeawolves.com or follow Southern Maine Community College Athletics on Twitter @SMCCseawolves and on Facebook SMCC Seawolves.