Men's basketball rallies for win over CMCC

AUBURN, Maine - The University of Maine at Augusta men's basketball team rallied back from an eight point deficit in the second half to pick up a critical victory over Central Maine Community College, 80-75 Wednesday night in Yankee Small College Conference action. The victory avenges an earlier loss to the Mustangs this season and puts the Moose in fourth place in the YSCC East Division heading into the weekend.

Senior Keith Chesley (Clinton, Maine) led the Moose (9-10, 4-3 YSCC) with a game-high 28 points in a game that saw five ties and 13 lead changes. Chesley was 9-10 from the free throw line, icing both ends of a double bonus with 14 seconds remaining to help seal the victory.

UMA led by as many as eight to start the second half, but senior Brandon Rogers (Turlock, Calif.) picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes into the half, and the Mustangs took advantage of his absence on the floor, turning a five point deficit into an eight point lead over the next six minutes with Rogers on the bench. 

With Rogers back in the game, the Moose rattled off a 9-4 run, highlighted by critical shots from junior Caleb McGuire (Whitefield, Maine) and freshman Aboud Hemed (Beltsville, Md.) to climb to within four points of the lead. The two teams traded baskets before Rogers drained a pair of free throws to put his team on top for good with 3:38 remaining. 

Seven different players scored for UMA in a very balanced attack, with Rogers scoring 19 and McGuire kicking in 11 points. Freshman Dallas Murray (Newport, R.I.) scored eight points and dished out six assists while Hemed and Joseph Davila (Hartford, Conn.) each scored five points in the effort. Rogers continued his domination on the boards with a game-high 18 rebounds. UMA also took advantage of poor ball handling by the Mustangs, scoring 27 points off of CMCC turnovers.

UMA returns to conference action on Saturday afternoon when the team travels to Unity College to take on Hampshire College at a neutral site.