Seawolves Sink Buccaneers: Mercier Drops 27

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine : The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) men's basketball team secured its fourth straight win, defeating MassBay Community College 74-56 on Friday night at The HUB. The Seawolves improve to 11-5 overall and 3-5 in YSCC play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
MassBay opened the game with a made jumper by Lansana Kaba. The Seawolves responded with Chance Mercier (Ellsworth, Maine). Mercier found his rhythm early, hitting a pair of threes and assisting on a fastbreak dunk by Sean Bosia (Dracut, Mass.) to help SMCC take a 15-11 lead at the 15:00 mark.

The Seawolves used a 21-9 run to close the half, sparked by tough interior play from Ellis Macea (Lawrence, Mass.) and a last call three from Jace Bessey (Jay, Maine) to take a 36-24 advantage into the break.

In the second half, Nathan Mugisha (Rwanda, East Africa) buried a three within the opening minute, and Mercier continued to torch the MassBay defense, finishing through contact and hitting baseline jumpers. After MassBay pulled within six at 43-37, the Seawolves responded with a 10-0 run capped by another Bessey three and a fastbreak finish from Mercier.

Down the stretch, Sam DeWitt (Hudson, N.H.) controlled the tempo and while Mercier tallied his 27^th point of the night on an unassisted layup at the 2:55 mark. SMCC's defense held MassBay to just 29.6% shooting through the contest.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Chance Mercier: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
• Jace Bessey: 11 points, 3 threes, 2 rebounds, 1 block
• Ellis Macea: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist
• Sam DeWitt: 8 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
• Nathan Mugisha: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Sean Bosia: 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
• SMCC shot 41.5% from the field and 39.1% from three
• Held MassBay to 24.2% from deep and forced 12 turnovers
• Seawolves won the rebounding battle 45-34

NEXT UP
SMCC (11-5, 3-5 YSCC) travels to ACPHS on Saturday, January 17 in YSCC matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 PM.