Auburn, Maine - The men's basketball team traveled to Maine this weekend to take on both UMaine Augusta and Central Maine.
For their first game, they took on the Maine Augusta Moose on Saturday afternoon in a close game. The two teams went back and forth at the beginning, but about halfway through the first half, the Moose went on a 9-0 run to build a 12 point lead. Logan Yohe (Delmar, NY) came off the bench and scored 10 points in the first half while three other Panthers each had 5 to cut the lead down to 34-27 at the break.
In the second half, the Panthers kept riding the hot hand as Yohe would score 12 more points and help cut the lead all the way down to 2 points. However, the Moose then caught fire and went on a 25-8 run over the next 10 minutes to secure the conference victory. DJ Bridges (Hamsburg, PA) and Brett Richards (Kinderhook, NY) both finished with 8 points while Michael Leak (Delanson, NY) had 12 points, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
The next morning, the Panthers played the CMCC Mustangs at 11 am in a game that had a very ugly start. In the first seven minutes, the Panthers missed all but one shot and turned the ball over nine times, quickly finding themselves down 19-2. A few minutes later, the Mustangs went on a 14-0 run to push their lead all the way up to 28 points. The Panthers could not buy a bucket shooting a mere 23% from the field, including missing all 11 three point attempts.
In the second half, the Panthers came out with a different game plan to try to erase the 26 point halftime deficit. The essence of the plan was to feed Brett Richards (Kinderhook, NY). In the second half alone he had 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. However, every time the Panthers scored, the Mustangs answered. The Panthers shot a much improved 50% from the field (with 15 assists on 18 shots), outscoring the Mustangs by nearly 10 points in the half, but it wasn't nearly enough to secure the victory.
They would go on to lose the game 89-72. Richards finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals to go along with 11 points each from Alex Carrillo (Akron, OH), Clarence Claiborne Jr. (Petersburg, VA), and Tristan Lisbony (Houston, TX).
The Panthers next and final regular season game of the year will take place on Wednesday evening when they host the Paul Smith's Bobcats on a cancer awareness night (wear purple!) after the game was rescheduled.
With an 8-7 conference record, the Panthers have secured the #4 seed in the YSCC playoffs, regardless of the outcome against Paul Smith's.
How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instgram @ACPHSPanthers or X @ACPHSAthletics.
Written by Angelo Oddo.
