Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Basketball saw its 2025-26 campaign come to a close after an 82-68 loss to archrival SMCC in the YSCC Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The #1 seeded Mustangs put up 41 points in the second half after being held to just 27 in the opening 20 minutes but could not keep pace with the #4 Seawolves who scored 52 in the final segment to pull away for a 14-point victory. All-Conference selection Khaden Moore had a team-high 15 points in the loss.
Both teams came out ready to play, trading the lead back-and-forth five times in the first three minutes, thanks to buckets from Keiontay Marsh, J.T. Pound, and Moore for CMCC, and Sam DeWitt and Ellis Macea for SMCC. The Mustangs put together an 8-0 run to go up 12-5 with 5:07 played, but that seven-point edge would be its largest lead of the game.
The Seawolves stayed hot on their heels throughout the first half and finally caught fire from beyond the arc. Chance Mercier hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 19-16 with 8:08 left before the break. Nathan Mugisha did the same just over a minute later to make it 21-19, and back-to-back baskets by Mercier tied the game at 23-23 with 5:55 remaining.
Will Duke connected on a jumper to put Central Maine back in front, but it was the last time the team would have the lead. Danny Luna canned a triple on the next possession to put Southern Maine up 26-25. Marsh connected on a shot in the final seconds, but the visitors would take a three-point lead into the locker room up 30-27.
The second half quickly turned into the Chance Mercier show. The 2024 Mr. Maine Basketball winner out of Ellsworth High School went off for 19 points in the final 20 minutes, shooting 3-for-4 from outside and going 6-for-6 at the free throw line to finish with a game-high 31 points. He put the Seawolves up by 11 with buckets on two straight possessions, allowing the team to manage the lead and play the final 16:25 at their tempo.
CMCC briefly got back within single digits thanks to Da'Vohn Jonas, Moore, and a dunk from Alexandre Brigitte putting together a small run, but the team had no answer for SMCC's outside shooting. Moore cut the lead down to 71-62 with 2:59 left, only to see the Seawolves make their foul shots in the final minutes to seal the upset victory.
The final stats showed the teams staying close in most of the categories. Southern Maine had a slight edge in field goal percentage, shooting 39.1% compared to 38.2%, but Central Maine had a 41-40 edge in rebounds. The two big differences came from the three-point line and the free throw line. The Mustangs shot an abysmal 6.7% from outside, going 0-for-9 in the first half and getting only a solitary shot to fall from Luke Jamieson, ending the night 1-for-15. Meanwhile the Seawolves were 10-for-32, and also had the edge at the charity stripe, shooting 18-for-20 compared to 9-for-12 from their hosts.
Sophomores Marsh and Jonas joined Moore in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. Pound, Brigitte, and Creighty Dickson all scored six. Pound also pulled down nine rebounds to lead all players while Duke dealt out a game-high eight assists. Mugisha (13), Macea (12), and DeWitt (11) joined Mercier in double digits for SMCC, who move on to face #2 UMaine-Augusta for the trophy on Sunday.
The loss ends the CMCC season with a 20-11 overall mark. The Mustangs suffered their second straight loss in the YSCC Tournament semifinals and have now gone 12 years without a conference championship, the longest drought in program history, with their last triumph coming in 2013-14.
The team did claim their fourth Yankee Small College Conference regular season title and had plenty to be proud of with strong campaigns from All-Conference selections Moore and Pound, and honorable-mention Duke.
