MBB Cruises to Win at Wheelock

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Junior forward Joshua Ford posted a double-double of 26 points and 16 rebounds to pace the Mitchell College men's basketball team in 94-61 rout over host Wheelock College on Tuesday night in a New England Collegiate Conference contest on Brunelli Court. 

Mitchell shot 52 percent (36-for-69) from the floor for the game. The Mariners improved to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in league play, while the Wildcats fell to 2-11 and 1-4.
  
The Mariners sailed out to a 12-2 lead in the first four and a half minutes of play and later maintained a 16-6 margin with 13:57 to play in the opening half. Wheelock then put together a torrid 14-2 stretch, fueled by six points from Bashir Hudson, to take a 20-18 lead with just over eight minutes left in the period.  It proved to be the home team's last lead of the contest as Mitchell closed out the half on a 25-9 run, led by seven points from junior Anthony Epps and six from Ford, to take a 43-29 advantage at the intermission. 
 
The Mariners began the second half with a 14-4 run to put the game away and took a 57-33 cushion with 15:33 to play in the game. Sophomore Michael Pellegrini dropped in six points during the stretch. 

Paul Coucci later knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:27 mark to pull the Wildcats to within 60-41, but that would be as close as they would get for the rest of the night. Mitchell put together a 16-4 stretch to increase its lead to 76-45 with 9:39 remaining in the contest and later took its biggest lead of the evening following a three-pointer from freshman Winston Wilcenski to take a 94-58 advantage with 44 seconds left in the game.
 
Ford was 11-for-16 from the floor and added two assists and a steal while Epps finished with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field in addition to six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Freshman Devonta Mosley also contributed 10 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists.
 
Hudson led the Wildcats with a double-double of his own consisting of 22 points and 14 rebounds and added a pair of steals. Sean Semerjian netted a career-high 15 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot, while Nico Cantu chipped in with a personal-best nine points to go with a rebound and an assist off the bench.
 
Mitchell will look for its third straight win when it hosts Lesley University on Thursday, January 17 at 6 p.m.