Strong First Half Leads Coast Guard Past MBB

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team dropped a 90-65 decision at Coast Guard Academy on Thursday night in non-conference action at Merriman Gym.  

The Bears got off to a hot start as Justin Kane netted 17 of his career-high 25 points in the first half. Madison Maloney recorded his first career double-double as he finished with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Packy Witkowski added 15 points, Noah Baldez had 12 points and Tyler Perez had 10 points and nine rebounds in the win.

Matt Finke led Mitchell (1-2 overall) with a season-high 20 points while Julius Hemingway added 11 points. Jalen Benson and Dra Harrison had a team-high six rebounds apiece.

Coast Guard outscored Mitchell 55-31 over the opening 20 minutes and never saw its lead dip below 24 in the second half. Kane helped jumpstart the big first half, hitting three consecutive three-pointers in a span of 52 seconds as the Bears built a 15-2 lead just under four minutes into the game. He finished the game 9-for-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from long range.

The Bears pushed the lead to 70-37 in the first four minutes of the second half. Coast Guard grabbed its largest lead at 84-44 with 8:28 left before Mitchell finished the game on a 21-6 run.

Coast Guard (3-2 overall) shot a season-high 48 percent from the floor (36-for-75) while making 10 of 32 (31 percent) from three-point range. Mitchell shot 24-for-70 (34 percent) and made just four of 20 from deep. The Bears held a 54-33 edge on the glass with 16 offensive boards.

Mitchell will next host Westfield State University on Sunday, November 24 at 1 p.m.