MBB Falls to Becker on the Road

LEICESTER, Mass. -- The Mitchell College men's basketball team dropped a 78-64 decision to Becker College on Wednesday night in New England Collegiate Conference play at Leicester Gymnasium.

Becker, which picked up its first conference win of the season, shot 50 percent as a team and had four players score in double figures. Leading the way was Mateus Ribeiro with a game-high 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Marquis Hawkins came off the bench to supply a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards while Jordan Rose-Wheatley and Jamal Grant chipped in 15 and 12 points, respectively.

Mitchell struggled to find its rhythm throughout and shot a season-low 34 percent from the floor. Leonard Williams led the offense with a season-high 14 points while Matt Finke added 12. Marvin Baker and Alfonzo Stokes netted 10 points apiece, with the former falling just one rebound shy of a double-double.

Mitchell fell behind by 15 in the opening half but rallied late to tighten up the score. The Mariners used a 16-2 run to tie the game at 28-28 with 3:02 left in the half; Finke drained the game-tying three to cap the stretch, which featured five points from Williams and back-to-back buckets by Stokes.

A three by Rose-Wheatley put the Hawks back on top, igniting a 7-2 spurt that left the home team with a 35-30 lead at the break. Williams led all scorers with 10 points at intermission while Ribeiro paced Becker with nine.

The Mariners cut the deficit to one in the early stages of the second half, but the Hawks never gave up the lead. Becker eventually built the margin back to double digits and coasted to the victory. Hawkins had a big second half with 10 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hawks.

Mitchell (4-11 overall, 1-1 NECC) will next play at Dean College on Saturday, January 18 at 1 p.m.