Bengals win Cole's Classic
November 20, 2017 • Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York—The University of Maine at Fort Kent men’s basketball team defeated USCAA rival Villa Maria, 97-76 on Saturday night to win the Cole’s Classic Tournament, hosted by Buffalo State University.

The Bengals found themselves down big just four minutes into the game, 18-8. UMFK then turned up the defensive pressure and held Villa Maria to just 19 points over the final 16 minutes of the first half.

The game was back and forth from that moment on with no team leading by more than four points until the Bengals ended the first half on an 11-0 run thanks to some full court defense that forced four Viking turnovers in the final three minutes.

With the score 60-55, UMFK leading the Bengals went on a decisive 28-9 run over a nine minute stretch to lead 88-64 with 3:32 left. Tournament MVP, Anthony Knight had 15 of his team high 25 in that stretch and the Bengals had four massive dunks to break the game open. Larry Wickett, who was also named to the All-Tournament team finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Tom Enerva collected his second double double of the tournament with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Johnathan Caldwell hit three, three point shots and finished with 11.

The Bengals shot 53% from the floor and held Villa Maria to just 35%.

Villa Maria was led by DeJuan Owens’ 30.