By: Mike Whaley
SOUTH PORTLAND, ME – The Great Bay Community College men’s basketball team used a late 13-0 run to pull away from VTSU-Randolph and capture the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) playoff championship, 71-55, Sunday at Southern Maine Community College.
The win earned the top-seeded Herons (22-5) the YSCC’s automatic bid to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division II Tournament, which will be played in Buffalo, New York, March 11-15. Randolph (20-12) could possibly earn one of eight at-large berths when the 10-team field is announced Monday at 12:20 p.m. during a live stream on the USCAA website. Indeed the YSCC could have three men’s teams traveling to Buffalo.
“We’ve been in there games where teams went on a run and we went on a run. It was blow for blow,” said GB coach Alex Burt. “We said one word: ‘Response.’ ‘How are we going to respond?’ I’m proud of our guys for the way they pulled away in the end.”
Great Bay led 58-50 with 4:41 to play, but Mpore Semuhoza and Ethan May sparked the big run with four points apiece to help the Herons pull away, widening the gap to 71-50 with 43 seconds to go. GBCC led 35-27 at the half, and was up by as many as 16 (47-31) midway through the second half. Randolph made a run to twice cut the lead to eight, but could draw no closer.
Tournament MVP Theo Wolfe led four Herons in double figures with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Keith Landry, the Offensive Player of the Tournament, chipped in with 17 points (5-8 3-pointers), nine rebounds and six assists, while May scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Cam O’Brien came off the bench to contribute 12 points as well on 6-of-8 shooting. Semuhoza had seven points, all in the second half, and eight boards.
Tyler Allen led Randolph with 21 points, while Jaylon Calvin added 18 with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
This will be Herons’ second trip to the nationals in three years. In 2023, they earned the 10th and final bid, pulled off two upsets before losing in the national semifinal. That team went 22-9. Last year, GBCC went 18-8, losing in the conference semis, but did not get a bid to the nationals. This year’s 22-5 mark is the best in program history.