AUGUSTA, ME
On just two days rest, UMPI Men's Basketball headed down for a mid-week matchup with University of Maine at Augusta, a rematch of their season opener up in Presque Isle. It ended up being the closest game of the year so far for the UMPI men, and unfortunately, the Owls got a hard lesson that sometimes it comes down to how the ball bounces.
How it Happened:
The theme of UMPI being banged up continued into this game as the Owls would be without their leading scorer Akhe McMichael. It would be next man up for UMPI, as it has been all season long. UMPI fell in an early hole, trailing by eight points at 22-14. The Owls played from behind for the remainder of the first half but rallied back to take a one-point lead at halftime. Crazily enough, that was their first lead of the game.
UMPI then reversed the script in the second half, when they played with the lead most of the way. UMA never let UMPI pull away however, as the most the Owls ever led by was six. UMA ultimately peaked at the right time as they re-took the lead with around four minutes to go. Teams traded leads for a while until UMA was in front 70-68 with just over a minute left.
The Owls put up a higher volume of shots in this one, attempting a season high 43 three-pointers. They made 11 of them, none of which were more improbable than the one Yuki Ishibashi put up with 1:05 to go. Ishibashi pulled up from 25 feet and buried the three to give UMPI a one-point lead. Immediately after, as UMA was inbounding the ball, Dwaine Williams made a vintage UMPI branded play as he stole the ball in the backcourt and laid it in. In the span five seconds the Owls had turned the game around, hanging five quick ones on UMA to take the 73-70 lead.
Though UMPI seemed to seize all the momentum, UMA was not done. On the ensuing possession they got a quick layup to cut it to one, before fouling UMPI with 16 seconds left. The Owls missed the front end of the one-and-one, giving UMA the ball, the Moose called a timeout with 12 seconds left. The Moose got the ball to their best player, Khalif Bettis with the Owls prepared for him to take the shot. Crossing over and pulling up a few feet inside the three-point line, UMPI's Tariq Martin had the best contest you could ever ask for other than a blocked shot, and Bettis appeared to leave the shot way out to the left, likely due to Martin's good contest. Whether it was intentional or not was besides the point, and fortunately for UMA, it was far enough left that it banked right off the glass and in.
The Moose had stunned the Owls with three seconds left, and after a turnover in the backcourt, they had won it. Just when UMPI had the momentum with a minute to go, UMA hung tough, played the long game and got the opportunity they needed, winning the game in the closing seconds 74-73.
Top Performers:
There were quite a few heroes in this game, but the Owls were led by Yuki Ishibashi as he had 19 points. Yuki had five three-pointers, and five assists as he led UMPI in minutes with 34. Right behind him was Dwaine Williams, returning to form with an 18 point performance. Williams had four threes, and he also led the Owls on the boards with ten points, giving him his first double-double in an UMPI uniform. Tyson Enget got to double digits for the third time this season with 11 points. He filled up the stat sheet with four steals, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks as well. Aleix Moreno and Tariq Martin both contributed a lot on the glass with nine assists each.
Next Up:
UMPI drops to 2-5 and will get right back to action this Sunday, November 30th at Bates College in Lewiston.
