SeaWolves Come Up Short In YSCC Heavyweight Matchup

CONCORD, N.H.—The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) men’s basketball team dropped its second Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) regular season game to the NHTI Lynx 70-67 on Thursday, Jan. 30.

Sophomore forward Anthony Lobor (Portland, Maine) did much of the heavy lifting for the SeaWolves netting 18 points and ripping 11 rebounds—going a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore captain Ian Regan (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) scored 16 on four made three pointers—reaching double figures for the seventeenth time this season.

NHTI’s Sean Menard led his team with 17 points in 32 minutes of action. J’Quavious Thurmond netted 13 on 6-10 shooting.

The home team held a 31-28 advantage at the break. First-year Pedro Fonseca (Portland, Maine) scored all of his 11 points in the second half to help the SeaWolves keep pace—down one in the final seconds of regulation. Menard made two free throws to put NHTI ahead by three before a SeaWolves’ timeout. The inbound fell into the hands of first-year Marios Tsielos (Tripoli, Greece) who drove the length of the court to pull a step back three that rimmed out.

In a post-game interview, Associate Head Coach AJ Burton commented, “In any game you play there are no moral victories. Even though it was not the result we wanted, as a coaching staff we are proud of the way we performed. From the preparation to execution, our guys did everything to put us in the position to win on the road in a tough environment. Heading into this final stretch we are starting to see our full potential and it will be exciting to see how we finish the regular season.”

SMCC suffers only its second loss on the road, sporting a 15-6 overall record and 9-3 in league standings. NHTI wins its seventh straight and climbs to 18-3 on the year, 11-2 YSCC.

Conference action continues when the SeaWolves finish their season set with Vermont Technical College on Sunday, Feb. 2. Tip-off in Randolph, Vt. is set for 3 p.m.

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