By The Beacon Sports Staff

Since the beginning of the 2017-18 Yankee Small College Conference season, the SeaWolves basketball teams have hit the road five times. The teams are currently working their way through the longest road stretch of the season, as they will have played four out of five games on their opponents’ courts. The road trip concludes tonight when the teams travel to Augusta to take on the Moose of the University of Maine-Augusta.

Last weekend The Beacon traveled with the teams to Randolph, Vermont, to cover their YSCC games against the Vermont Tech Knights. The Lady SeaWolves started out the day’s games by jumping to a 21-4 first-quarter lead, holding it throughout the contest, and enabling all the Lady SeaWolves to see playing time. After 40 minutes of play, the Lady SeaWolves won their fourth game in a row (73-42).

Coach Bergeron was able to play all of the Lady SeaWolves against Unity College and Paul Smith College, as they won both games handily (71-29 and 75-35, respectively). Coaches often speak of establishing balanced scoring: when many players contribute, as opposed to depending upon one or two players scoring the majority of the team’s points. Against Unity College, the Lady ‘Wolves managed to accomplish this. Every player broke into the scoring column; high scoring honors went to freshman forward Grace Karlotis, who drained the nets for 12 points.

On the men’s side of the court, the Men SeaWolves have won twice away from South Portland, while losing once. The men handled Paul Smith and Unity College, winning by 36 at Paul Smith College (96-60), and by 27 at Unity (76-59).
The win against Paul Smith College would be the fifth in a row for the men’s squad, and like the lady’s games, where everyone played, all of the SeaWolves saw playing time against Paul Smith.

As reported on the SMCC Athletics web page: Assistant Coach AJ Burton reflected, “It was great to see so many guys step up and play a role in a truly balanced attack, especially after a long overnight trip. The composure displayed in the execution of the game plan was well received by the coaching staff. We still have a long road ahead of us, but are making strides in the right direction.”

Word on the street has it that the men’s game in Unity was as unaesthetically pleasing as one could witness. Regardless, the SeaWolves won: They scored 38 points in each half, while holding Unity to their lowest score of the season.
Again, it was Dylan Silvestri making his presence felt, as he led all scorers with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Willie Brown extended his double-digit scoring to three games, hitting for 13 points.

The downside of the men’s road trip came at Vermont Tech as the SeaWolves could not hold a slim half time lead, faltering down the stretch. The ‘Wolves’ last lead of the game would come on a Gregory Trinidad 3-point jumper (61-60) with a few seconds worth of 10 minutes remaining.
Over the course of the final 10 minutes, the SeaWolves would stay close, pulling within 1 or 2 points seven times. The last time the ‘Wolves would have the Knights in their sights would be with 55 seconds left on Gregory Trinidad’s free throw (80-82).

The Knights would outscore the ‘Wolves 7-2 in the final 54 seconds, as faulty free-throw and field-goal shooting plagued the SMCC squad. The ‘Wolves would shoot a dismal 27.3 percent from the line (6-22).

Left: Emily Emerson scoring two of her 15 points against Vermont Tech
Right: Andrerson Kavutse takes on two VT Tech Knights for a rebound
Photos courtesy of The Beacon Sports Staff