Mt. Abram's Bryce Wilcox (4) plays defense as Monmouth's Isaac Oliveira shoots during a boys basketball game Tuesday in Monmouth. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

MONMOUTH — The Monmouth Academy boys basketball team claimed a 67-55 home victory over Mt. Abram on Tuesday night in a fast-paced, physical Mountain Valley Conference game.

Monmouth (2-0) led for most of the first quarter but never quite pulled away as Mt. Abram’s Cam Frost-Gray scored seven points in the period to leave the Roadrunners trailing just 17-15 after one. Mt. Abram would then pull ahead 19-17 early in the second, but the Mustangs answered with a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the half.

Mt. Abram (1-1) would recover somewhat to trail just 30-27 at the break, but Monmouth then delivered another punch as it outscored the Roadrunners 18-5 in the third quarter. The Mustangs then survived a furious scoring barrage from Frost-Gray in the fourth quarter to secure a key conference win.

Isaac Oliveira had a team-high 21 points for Monmouth and added five rebounds. The Mustangs also got 14 points and nine rebounds from Hunter Frost, 10 points from Owen Harding and nine points and six boards from Sammy Calder. 

For Mt. Abram, Frost-Gray netted a game-high 29 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter. Peyton Mitchell added nine points and seven rebounds for the Roadrunners.