Knights Outlast Southern Maine to Seize YSCC Regular Season Championship
Vermont Tech finished its weekend road trip Sunday afternoon with a tough win against YSCC rival, the Southern Maine Seawolves, 87-83. Kevin Carr led the Knights with a game high 38 points. Nick Simpson was the only other Knight in double figures with 22 points.
The win makes the Knights 10-0 in YSCC play and clinched the YSCC regular season championship. Vermont Tech will now have a first round bye in the YSCC Championship Tournament scheduled for Portland, Maine on the weekend of February 19-20. SMCC and NHTI will now vie for the second place bye. This is the second time in two years that Vermont Tech has won the YSCC regular season championship.
The Knights went to the locker room at halftime with a 44-37 lead. The Seawolves battled back during the second half to take a one point lead with less than three minutes to play. Kevin Carr and Nick Simpson hit clutch baskets in the waning minutes. Carr stepped to the foul line with the game knotted at 83 and just 1:03 on the clock. He hit both ends of a one and one to put the Knights up two points. In the next possession the Vermont Tech defense forced SM to take a long jump shot late in the shot clock. The long rebound went out of bounds and SM had a second chance to tie or go ahead. Again, the defense held. Nick Simpson was fouled on the next Knight possession and calmly hit both free throws to ice the game with 06 seconds remaining on the clock.
“This was a great road win for us,” said Coach Dyer afterwards. “Southern Maine is very, very tough on their home floor. We’re very happy to exit the building with a win today. Kevin Carr showed why he is an All American. Every time we needed a basket, Kevin was there. Nick Simpson, dependable as always, was right there at the finish to preserve the win. Both showed their versatility today. Both had 8 rebounds and played tough defense. Josh Lindsey (12 rebounds/7 points) was a force on the boards. We lost Trent Roleau early in the game and Josh really stepped up. This was a great team effort.”
Vermont Tech is now 17-2 on the season.
