Hot Shooting Pushes Conn College Past MBB

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team dropped a 73-60 decision in non-conference action against Connecticut College on Monday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Conn College (7-5 overall) shot just under 60 percent in the contest and went 12-for-22 from three-point range to secure the victory. Matt Vadas finished with a game-high 30 points on 11-for-14 shooting and was 7-for-8 from long distance. Boris Jeremic and John Bullitt each chipped in with 10 points for the Camels.

Mitchell (1-11 overall) shot 43 percent from the field but couldn't keep pace with Conn College's hot shooting. Junior Mercury Fiske  led three Mariners in double figures with a season-high 20 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Classmates Julio Contreras and Paul Jefferson added 17 and 11 points, respectively.

Conn College used the three-point shot to jump out to a quick lead. Vadas scored his team's first nine points—all from behind the arc—to set the tone. The Camels started the game by going 6-for-7 from long range to take an 18-6 lead with just over 14 minutes to play in the half.

The Mariners shot 50 percent in the first half and committed only five turnovers, yet still found themselves trailing 44-32 at the break thanks to the white-hot shooting by the Camels. Conn College shot 68 percent from the field and went 10-for-16 from three. Vadas was a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor and hit six three-pointers in the stanza.

The Camels led by as many as 18 points in the second half and never let the margin dip below double digits. Conn College outscored Mitchell 32-12 in the paint and got 34 points from its bench. Jefferson, who finished with three treys, accounted for 11 of the Mariners' 13 bench points.

Mitchell returns to conference play at Southern Vermont College on Thursday, January 13 at 6 p.m.