Men's Basketball Falls Short at Southern Vermont

BENNINGTON, Vt. - A hot start wasn't enough for the Mitchell College men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as the Mariners fell 75-69 to Southern Vermont College at the Field House.

Derrick Cenicola and Lance Spratling led Southern Vermont (4-5 overall, 1-0 NECC) with 26 points apiece. Senior Mike DePaolo led Mitchell (1-7 overall, 0-1 NECC) with a season-high 26 points, one shy of his career high.

The Mariners scored the first eight points of the contest to take control. Sophomore Alex Vess opened the scoring with a lay-up and junior Drew Norris and DePaolo each followed with three-pointers.

The Mountaineers quickly pulled things together and battled back to take their first lead a 17-16 with 13:33 remaining. The Mariners then regained the lead with a three from Norris, who finished 5-of-9 from downtown for a career-high 21 points.

The momentum shifted once again when Spratling laid it in for two and Cenicola hit a three to make it 24-20 in Southern Vermont's favor. The Mountaineers bumped the lead to as many as 11 points in the stanza but led by only two, 38-36, at the half. Cenicola scored 15 of his 26 points in the first half, all from behind the arc. 

Southern Vermont never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 10 points. The Mariners, however, kept chipping away with key treys from Norris and DePaolo. Mitchell cut the deficit to 68-67 on a three by Norris with 2:01 to go in the game, but Southern Vermont closed the door by going 7-of-10 from the free throw line in the final minutes.

Cenicola finished 7-of-8 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Joe Karnik had 11 points and nine rebounds while Cam Herrington contributed eight points and 12 boards to round out the Mountaineers attack.

Vess finished with a career-high 11 points in 22 minutes and added a team-high seven rebounds. The Mariners, who played without leading scorer Eric Murray (15.9 ppg) and big man Jenel Russell (9.0 ppg), committed only 13 turnovers in the contest.

Mitchell will take an extended break during the winter intermission. The Mariners return to action at Wheelock College on Saturday, January 9 at 2 p.m.