MBB Gets Back on Winning Track at Newbury

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team got back on the winning track on Saturday afternoon, besting Newbury College for the second time this season by a final score of 81-64 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action.

Junior Parris Hill netted a game-high 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as the Mariners (12-4 overall) improved to 8-1 in conference play. Senior Joshua Ford added 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds while classmate Anthony Epps chipped in with 14 points.

Mitchell wasted no time off the tip and set the tone early, jumping out to a 9-0 advantage before forcing Newbury to call a timeout just over two minutes into the contest. Coming out of the timeout, Ford pushed the lead to 11-0 before Mills Carrasco finally put Newbury on the scoreboard with a three.

Despite the early double-digit deficit, the Nighthawks fought their way back to make it a two-possession game. Midway through the stanza, Carrasco cut the margin to five with a put-back lay-up with 12:06 remaining in the period. But that was as close as the Nighthawks would get.

The tandem of Hill and Ford was dominant throughout the first half. The California native was flawless from the field, knocking down all five of his shots for a high of 16 points while Ford was right on his coat tails with 13 points. Junior Alex Pires hit a three-pointer before the halftime buzzer to give the Mariners a commanding 48-28 advantage at the break.

When the teams returned to the floor at the start of the second half, the Nighthawks came out energized. A minute into the period, Carrasco made a steal and took it back down the other end for a lay-up to cut the deficit to 18. However, Epps drained a trey on the next possession to give the Mariners their largest lead of the game at 51-30.

Newbury hung tough with the first place team in the NECC. Just past the midway point in the second period, Adam James connected with Eric Watson to cap a Nighthawk run to cut the deficit back down to single digits at 63-54 with 8:33 left to play. Two minutes later, after Hill pushed the Mitchell lead back to double digits, Watson found Cameron Owen wide open on the baseline corner to cut the Mitchell lead back down to nine.

It wasn't engouht, though, as the Mariners cruised to the finish. Ford registered his 15th double-double of the season while senior guard Alex Del Rio dished out a game- and season-high nine assists.

Watson scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half and finished with five assists. Carrasco was not far off the pace with 12 points while Daivon Edwards rounded out the Nighthawk trio in double digits with 10 points.

Newbury dropped to 1-7 in the conference play and 1-16 overall. Mitchell has now won 10 of its last 11 games.

Mitchell will next host Lesley University on Tuesday, January 28 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be the second of the annual Blackout doubleheader. The first 200 Mitchell students at the games will receive a free t-shirt. Contests will also be held a halftime of each game, and prizes include gift cards, a semester of free book rentals, and an iPad.