CMCC holds off furious rally by SMCC to advance to championship

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AUBURN, Maine -Central Maine Community College held off a furious late run from Southern Maine Community College to advance to the championship game of the Yankee Small College Conference Elite Eight Tournament Saturday night. The second ranked Mustangs won 92-89 and will take on fifth-seeded U. Maine Machias, who upset the first-ranked College of Saint Joseph's earlier in the day. 

The Seawolves were slow out of the gate offensively and trailed by as many as 13 points with 3:14 remaining in regulation when CMCC's Carrington Miller's (Bingham, Maine) dunk seemed to put the game out of reach. But SMCC pulled off a 17-5 run over the final three minutes of play to close within three points at the final buzzer.

Miller led the Mustangs with a game-high 27 points while teammates Pietro Badalassi (Canberra, Australia) and Rob Skinner (Winstead, Conn.) were also over 20 points with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Skinner led CMCC with 12 rebounds while dishing eight assists with five steals and two blocks. 

The Seawolves had a very balanced attack with five different players in double-digits, led by 23 points from Grayson Waterman (Berwick, Maine) and 20 points from Jordan DeRosby (Waterville, Maine), who also had four assists and a pair of steals. John Morgan (Sanford, Maine) scored 15 points and Matthew Jarrett (Norwalk, Conn.) and Dylan Silvestri (Pelham, N.H.) each kicked in ten points.

The championship game begins at 2:00 tomorrow at CMCC.