MBB Falls at Wheelock

CHESTNUT HILL, MA – The Mitchell College men's basketball team suffered a 72-52 setback to Wheelock College on Saturday afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference contest at Brunelli Court on the campus of Pine Manor College.

Kyle Pierce netted 16 points and was one of five Wheelock players to net double-digits. The Wildcats improved to 5-8 overall and 3-2 in NECC play, while the Mariners fell to 5-6 and 3-2.

Wheelock forced Mitchell into 21 turnovers and held a 19-7 advantage in points scored off turnovers.

The Mariners sailed out to an early 6-1 lead and maintained a 9-4 margin with 14:44 to play in the opening half, before the Wildcats reeled off eight straight points, keyed by three-pointers from Bunky Williams and Victor Kashouh, to take a 12-9 lead. Wheelock did not relinquish the lead for the final 34 minutes of action. 

Mitchell later cut the deficit to a point following a lay-up from sophomore forward Joshua Ford to make it 14-13 with 11:26 showing in the first half, but the Wildcats responded with a 15-4 stretch to take their largest lead of the half at 29-17 with 5:20 to go. The Mariners got no closer than seven points for the rest of the half, before Wheelock took a 33-24 cushion into the break.

Senior forward Jeff Gomez converted a lay-up less than two minutes into the second stanza to pull Mitchell within 33-28, but the Wildcats broke the contest open with a 13-5 burst, paced by seven points from Pierce, to take a 46-33 advantage with 11:14 remaining in the game. Ford made good on a lay-up to get the deficit to single digits at 46-38 with just under 10 minutes to play, but a blistering 16-3 run gave Wheelock a comfortable 62-41 lead with 5:37 showing on the second half clock. The Wildcats led by as many as 23 points before taking a 72-52 victory.

Pierce was 6-11 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from the line to go with four rebounds and two assists for Wheelock, while Eric Rice dropped in 13 points, three boards, two assists and a pair of blocks in 23 minutes of action. Kashouh finished the day with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Bashir Hudson registered his team-high sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three steals in 20 minutes off the bench, and Max Kaim chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, four steals and a blocked shot.

Ford led the Mariners with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to go with three assists, a steal and a block, while Gomez netted 11 points and grabbed two rebounds in 23 minutes of play. Senior forward Alex Vess contributed with nine points and a steal.

Mitchell returns to action at Becker College on Tuesday, January 17 at 8 p.m.