LEWISTON — For a moment, Dave Gonyea considered calling a timeout.

His Central Maine Community College men’s basketball team had pushed the ball all night Thursday and were intent on setting the tempo against New Hampshire Technical Institute.

Late in the game, however, the Lynx started to rally. Gonyea stuck to the plan and didn’t burn a timeout.

The Mustangs proved it unnecessary. CMCC ran off 10 straight points to expand the lead and finish off a 77-59 win.

“The game plan was to play a lot of guys, run, run run, play a good amount of ball pressure and as deep as we are, we caused some pressure,” Gonyea said. “We didn’t take any time outs. We didn’t want the clock to stop. We wanted to keep on pushing and keep on running.”

Pietro Badalassi led the Mustangs (6-2) with 19 points overall, including 12 in the second half. Jordan White scored 15 while Carrington Miller added 13. 

“Typically this season, we’ve played one half of basketball,” Badalassi said. “So we needed to play the second half. The coach asked me if I was alright. He said I wasn’t running. From there, I was just going to run as hard as I could. Hard work pays off.”

The Mustangs had the lead up to as many as 16 early in the second half, but NHTI (4-2) used an 8-0 run late in the half to close the gap to 65-57. CMCC went into a bit of a funk offensively. The Mustangs weren’t getting the stops or the transition points that had benefited them for much of the game.

“There was one spot I almost called a timeout, but I did not,” Gonyea said.

Instead, the Mustangs righted themselves and got back on track. After a free throw by Mark Williams, who finished with nine points, Badalassi hit a leaner and then added a basket following a shot for a 70-57 lead with 3:36 left. Rob Skinner scored and White hit a short jumper. After a free throw by Miller, White hit another jumper for 10 straight points and a 77-57 lead.

“We were all playing as individuals,” Badalassi said. “We were all trying to be heroes, myself included. We tried to control the game and tried to swing the ball more. When we play as a team, we can beat any team.”

CMCC opened a nine-point lead in the first half thanks to an 8-0 run. Raikwon Rodrigues had four points during that stretch and Elijah Barbour hit a 3. The Lynx answered with a 7-0 run of their own late in the half. NHTI got within 31-29 with 4:52 left, but CMCC finished the half strong with a 9-2 surge.

“We look to run a lot,” Badalassi said. “We have a pretty deep bench. Our bench came up real big. That’s why Coach like to go so deep.”

After a Rodrigues basket, Williams scored on an inbounds pass and converted a three-point play.  After free throws by Dayvon Russell, Kaleb Benjamin and White finished the half with baskets for a 43-33 lead.

“We have a lot of weapons,” Gonyea said. “We have some nice bigs. We have some guys that can shoot it. We have some guys that can handle the ball and have some great leadership from Rob (Skinner).”

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