That’s what New Hampshire Technical Institute realized Thursday about the Central Maine Community College’s men’s team.

With a tie game early in the first half, the game changed when Coach Dave Gonyea went to his bench. The Lynx tried to sub as well. The Mustangs got a spark and NHTI couldn’t keep up.

CMCC broke the lead open and maintained it in the second half for a 101-69 win.

“That’s been the story of our season,” Gonyea said. “Some teams may be able to last five-on-five with us but nobody is matching 10-on-10. Our second five is as good as the first five. They all continue to work really hard. Our style of basketball is defense first. Teams start making mental mistakes and we keep putting pressure on them. We have waves of players and they have to adjust.”

CMCC (10-0) used a 15-1 run in the first half to open the game. The Lynx went four-plus minutes without a field goal. NHTI still managed to stay within reach, down 48-36.

The second half opened with Jalen Lincoln scoring 10 points as CMCC used a 10-2 run to double the lead. Lincoln finished with 12 points as the Mustangs had six players in double figures.

“There’s something like seven players averaging seven points or more,” Lincoln said. “So if you’re going to scout us, who are you going to stop?

Shaun Hill led the team with 19 points. Kazre Cummings added 14 while James Pina also had 12. Luis Medina with 11 and Xavier Colbert with 10 were also in double figuers. NHTI got 21 from Phil Smith.

“One thing about Jalen Lincoln is if he struggles in one part of the game, he’ll make it up in another part of the game,” Gonyea said. “He really a veteran player and he leads us and he’s working hard.”

With the game going back-and-forth early, the Mustangs went to the bench. Hill helped give the team a spark and the defensive pressure increased. CMCC got six straight points on a jumper from Chris Semedo and a 3 from Hill. After Cummings and NHTI traded a free throw, CMCC scored 10 straight to make it 26-13. Hill had a pair of baskets, both off turnovers while Medina and Cummings scored field goals.

The quickness and defensive pressure proved too much for the Lynx, especially when NHTI tried to go to the bench and couldn’t match the Mustangs. NHTI had 35 turnovers.

“There’s no difference between starters and subs,” Lincoln said. “That’s why we do what we do. There’s not a decrease. It’s just fresh legs in and out.”

NHTI got within seven late in the half and were down 48-36 at the half. That didn’t last long into the second half though. Lincoln scored eight straight as part of his 10 points in the first 2:10 to spark the 10-2 run.

“I started off cold,” Lincoln said. “I wanted to help out the team. I wasn’t hitting shots, and I thought I had to contribute some how.”

That was the lift the Mustangs needed. CMCC used a 13-0 run later in the half to maintain the lead.  The fast pace of play continued and NHTI couldn’t produce the stops it needed to make a run.

“We like to get other teams to play fast,” Lincoln said. “The faster they play, the more they get out of their style of play.”

kmills@sunjournal.com