MBB Rallies Back to Top Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Senior Alex Del Rio scored on a runner with 17.9 seconds to play to complete a 15-point second half rally for Mitchell College as the Mariners stunned the Coast Guard men's basketball team 67-66 on Tuesday evening at Merriman Gymnasium.

Senior and reigning NECC Player of the Year Joshua Ford registered game highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds to help guide Mitchell (2-1 overall) to their second consecutive win over Coast Guard (0-3 overall).

Coast Guard just couldn't contain the wide-bodied Ford and he took advantage of open looks and a pure strength advantage in the post. He finished the game hitting 12 of his 19 field goal attempts (1-for-3 from beyond the arc).

Ryan McNeil, coming off the bench, scored 16 of his career-high 22 points in the first half to help stake the Bears to a double-digit advantage. He was 7-for-12 from the field while his four three-pointers were also a career-high. After Coast Guard built a 41-26 lead by halftime, Mitchell used an 11-2 run out of the break to cut the deficit to just six and get back into the game.

Despite the run, Coast Guard was able to build the lead back to 10 at 66-56 with just over three minutes to play, but Mitchell scored the final 11 points of the game to pick up the victory.

The second half belonged to the Mariners as they outscored the Bears 41-25 in the stanza, doing so largely on plays in which sophomore Devonta Mosley (19 points, 9-for-17 from the field) and Ford would drive to the basket and make shots in traffic. Mosley scored six of Mitchell's final 11 points and added a game-high four steals for Mitchell.

A wild play set up the winning basket for Mitchell. Trailing 66-65, the Mariners pressed the ball up the court before forcing a Coast Guard turnover when Eli Sponseller threw a pass to McNeil that ended up being a backcourt violation.

Mitchell got the ball back with 30 seconds to play and gave the inbounds pass to Del Rio. He came off a high screen set by Ford and drove to the basket on right side, releasing a runner from about four feet away over the arms of a pair of Coast Guard defenders. The shot banked in and gave Mitchell a one-point lead with just under 18 seconds to go.

David Anderson recorded his seventh career double-double for the Bears, totaling season-highs of 20 points and a team-high 11 rebounds (including four offensive boards), while tallying a game- and career-high six assists. Devonte Weems was tremendous on the ball all night, directing the Coast Guard offense and facilitating for his teammates. He finished with eight points (2-for-6 shooting), three rebounds, and three assists against just one turnover.

Coast Guard's leading-scorer, Sponseller, was unable to get anything going early and struggled from the field, finishing with just five points on 2-for-14 shooting (1-for-7 from three) but did grab eight rebounds.

The Bears held a 40-34 rebounding edge over the Mariners but were outscored 50-20 in the paint. Mitchell shot 52.5 percent from the field (31-for-59) but just 17 percent from three (2-for-12) to outshoot the Bears, who were just 38 percent from the field (24-for-64) and 28 percent from three-point range (7-for-25). Coast Guard shot 15 free throws (making 11) compared to Mitchell's 3-for-10 effort from the charity stripe.

Del Rio finished with seven points (3-for-8 shooting), two rebounds and two assists for the Mariners. With the victory, Mitchell improved to 2-7 all-time against Coast Guard.

"Mitchell deserves a lot of credit; they fought hard to come back," said Coast Guard head coach Kevin Jaskiewicz. "I told my guys at halftime that Mitchell was going to battle back in the second half. We turned it over six times in the second half. We have to be better with the ball."

Mitchell will next take on Purchase College on Saturday, November 23 in the Maron Hotel and Suites Classic Round Robin (hosted by Western Connecticut State University). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.