Becker Big Men Too Much For MBB

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team dropped an 85-74 decision to Becker College on Saturday afternoon at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Four Hawks scored in double figures led by 25 points from Trae Jacobs, the majority of which came in the low blocks. Markus Wright also chipped in with 17 points down low, contributing to 64 points in the paint for Becker (9-2 overall, 2-0 NECC) in the contest. Freshman Tim Quinn paced the Mariners (1-10 overall, 0-3 NECC) with a career-high 21 points.

Becker scored the first five points of the contest and never trailed. The Hawks pounded the ball inside to Jacobs in the early going, and the big man responded with four buckets in just over four minutes. Becker led by as many as 12 points in the stanza, though Mitchell managed to trim the deficit to six by halftime and trailed 33-27 at the break.

In the second half, the Hawks forced turnovers and got easy baskets in transition to quickly build the lead back to double digits. Becker scored eight straight points to open the stanza and got all four field goals on fast-break opportunities.

Becker led 55-42 with 12:05 to play when Mitchell made a push to get back into the game. The Mariners reeled off a 13-3 run in just over three minutes to pull within three at 58-55 with 8:56 remaining. Five different players scored for the Mariners during the spurt, with Quinn and junior Paul Jefferson each hitting three-pointers to spark the crowd.

The Hawks responded by going back to Jacobs and Wright in the low post, and the duo combined to score 15 points during a 19-3 run that slammed the door on the Mitchell comeback. Becker, which attempted only four three-pointers in the contest, shot an astounding 69 percent from the floor in the second half.

Becker's Rajai Leggett netted 14 of his 18 points in the second half and finished with seven rebounds. Terrance Favors also scored 10 points and stuffed the stat sheet with seven assists and five steals.

Mitchell shot a season-high 47 percent from three-point range but couldn't make up for a 64-36 deficiency in points in the paint. Jefferson finished in double digits with a season-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting while junior Alex Vess added eight points and eight boards.

Mitchell returns to action at home against Connecticut College on Monday, January 10 at 7 p.m.