Bengal Basketball Back in Action
November 11, 2019 • Fort Kent, ME

Fort Kent, ME—Both the Men’s and Women’s University of Maine at Fort Kent Bengal basketball teams saw action earlier in the week, picking up wins over in-state rival, the University of Maine at Machias. In the women’s game, Stephanie Cervantes shined off the bench putting in 15 points for the home team with all of her points coming off fast break layups based on the hustle of her defense.

The Men’s game came down to the wire as neither team was ever able to gain much of an advantage. With the visiting Clippers up six midway through the second half, it was the hustle play of Jacob Powell and Mekhi Foreman that got the crowd fired up and ignited the Bengal come back.  In back to back plays, Powell and Foreman deflected Clipper passes and had to dive on the floor and scramble for the loose ball to save the possession for the Bengals. In a wild sequence in the closing seconds of the game, the Logan Miller of the Bengals stole the ball at mid court and the Bengals called time-out with 20 seconds remaining, and the score 41-41. The Bengals executed the drawn up play to perfection but the shot at the basket came off the rim, fortunately, Zeke McMurtry did what he does best and corralled the offensive rebound and laid it back in as the Bengals took a 43-41 lead. With only a few seconds remaining, the Clippers half court heave at the basket was not even close, and UMFK came away with the victory.

This past weekend, the Women’s team traveled to Buffalo to take on Bryant & Stratton College of Buffalo and Villa Maria College. The Bengals struggled in the first game, losing 77-64 to a scrappy team. The following day, the Bengals got outlasted in overtime losing 84-83. A true barn burner.

The Lady Bengals take on the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Thursday in Presque Isle at 5:30 PM. The Men’s team has a week off before they head down to Waterville, ME to participate in the Charlie Ryan Classic Tournament at Thomas College where they will play the University of Southern Maine and Thomas College on Friday and Saturday.