MBB Posts 71-59 Win Over CCNY

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team defeated the City College on New York on Sunday afternoon by a 71-59 final in a non-conference match-up at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Junior Parris Hill and senior Joshua Ford each recorded double-doubles in the win, the ninth straight victory for the Mariners (11-3 overall). Hill finished with game highs of 26 points and 14 rebounds while Ford added 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Senior Anthony Epps also had a big game for Mitchell with a season-high 24 points and seven rebounds.

Manfred Cadet led the Beavers (4-9 overall) with 17 points while Anthony Lewis and Guilherme Brodt added 14 and 10 points, respectively. Lewis also grabbed five rebounds and finished with two blocks and a pair of assists.

Mitchell never trailed and led 15-6 following a lay-up by Hill just six minutes into the contest. The Mariners led by the same margin with seven minutes to go before CCNY cut the deficit down to three with six straight points, including four from Lewis. Mitchell then closed the half on a 17-1 run over the final four minutes to take a 44-25 lead into the break. Hill contributed eight points during the stretch while Epps added six.

Hill led all scorers with 16 points in the first half and Epps chipped in with 15. The Mariners shot 56 percent in the stanza and held a 29-11 edge on the glass. Cadet paced the Beavers with 10 points at intermission.

The Mariners led by as many as 21 points in the second half, but the Beavers continued to plug away and eventually cut the deficit back to single digits following a basket by Lareik Taylor with 6:57 to go. Lewis then followed with a free throw and a jumper to pull his team to within six at 61-55, but it would be as close as CCNY would get.

Epps responded with back-to-back lay-ups and Ford added a jumper to put Mitchell back up by 12 with 3:09 remaining. The Mariners scored 10 of the final 14 points of the game to pick up their second win over CCNY this season.

Mitchell shot 46 percent for the game and hit the boards for a 55-28 advantage. Freshman Damion Hewitt came off the bench to grab seven rebounds in 10 minutes while sophomore Frank Martin added six.

CCNY shot 38 percent from the floor and forced 22 Mitchell turnovers. Khalil Hamer gave the Beavers solid minutes off the bench, finishing with nine points, five rebounds and four steals in 20 minutes.

Mitchell returns to conference action at home against Southern Vermont College on Tuesday, January 21 at 6 p.m.