MBB Knocks Off Becker in NECC Championship First Round

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Fourth-seeded Mitchell College held off a late charge from fifth-seeded Becker College to post a 77-75 victory in the first round of the New England Collegiate Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Tuesday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Mitchell (14-11 overall) advances to the semifinals and will face top-seeded Elms College on Friday, February 22 at 6 p.m. The semifinals and finals will be hosted by Elms on February 22 and 23.

Junior Joshua Ford led all scorers with 26 points and added 15 rebounds and five assists to lead the Mariners (14-11 overall) to their first-ever victory in the NECC Championship. Mitchell's last and only other appearance came in 2009.

Yahmad Rountree paced five Becker starters in double figures with 21 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds. The Hawks dropped to 13-13 overall on the season.

Becker, the defending champion, didn't go down without a fight. Mitchell led by seven with 1:19 remaining in the contest, but Tyler Roberson buried a three-pointer to cut into the deficit. After the Mariners bumped the lead back to six on a pair of free throws by Ford, Roberson hit another jumper and later added two free throws to cut the margin to 75-73 with 51 seconds left on the clock.

A lay-up by sophomore Michael Pellegrini off a nice feed from Ford put the Mitchell lead back at four, but a crazy sequence on Becker's ensuing possession led to several offensive rebounds and a put-back by Rashaun Liggon with 14 seconds to go. Liggon was fouled on the play but missed the free throw, and the Hawks were forced to foul after the Mariners grabbed the defensive board.

Junior Alex Del Rio went to the line with 10 ticks left on the clock, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one to give Becker one last crack for either the tie or win. The Hawks ended up inbounding the ball from the sideline with 2.2 seconds to play and went to Roberson, who drove the baseline and pulled up for a jumper at the buzzer that was off the mark.

Del Rio scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, including a three-pointer that put Mitchell in front for good with 6:16 remaining. Junior Anthony Epps added 13 points and eight rebounds while Pellegrini chipped in with 11 points.

Darius Sealy finished with 16 points and three steals while Liggon had 14 points and 11 boards. Roberson and Donovin Ford-Hayes each netted 12 points to round out all the scoring for the Hawks.