MBB Tops ENC in Regular Season Finale

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College closed out the New England Collegiate Conference regular season with a 73-58 victory over Eastern Nazarene College on Saturday afternoon at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

The Mariners (11-14 overall) and Lions (13-12 overall) finish in a tie for second place in the NECC standings with a league record of 8-4. By virtue of a tiebreaker, Mitchell has earned the second seed and a first-round bye for next week's NECC Championship. Eastern Nazarene will be the third seed and will host a first-round match-up. A complete bracket will be released by the conference later today.

Leonard Williams came off the bench to lead Mitchell with a game- and career-high 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting. Hasani Williams chipped in a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds on senior day to round out a balanced scoring attack for the Mariners. 

Three Eastern Nazarene players finished in double digits with Garrett Crandell supplying a team-high 18 points to go with four assists. Jacob Waldroop added 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Josh Rice had 11 points.

After Mitchell picked up points on its first two possessions of the contest, ENC pulled in front thanks to eight straight points from Rice. He scored on three consecutive trips down the floor, following up back-to-back threes with a layup to make it 8-4 after just three minutes.

The Lions led for the next 10 minutes—pumping the margin to as many as seven—before the Mariners charged into the lead behind a 12-0 run. Leonard Williams and Malik Chase each contributed treys during the stretch while Alfonzo Stokes added a pair of scores.

Late in the half, ENC used a 9-0 run to pull back in front at 30-29. Crandell and Waldroop each buried threes to cap the spurt, although the Mariners netted the final four points of the stanza to lead 33-30 at the break. 

ENC pulled even twice in the second half, the first time when another Waldroop three provided the first points of the period and tied the score at 33-33. The Mariners responded with a three from Jalen Benson and played with the lead over the next 10 minutes.

ENC pulled within one at 44-43 on a jumper by Crandell at the 12:21 mark, but Mitchell's Elijah Baidoo answered with a layup and a three on consecutive possessions. Leonard Williams soon followed with a free throw to extend the lead to 50-43 with 10:13 remaining.

The Lions didn't go down without a fight, firing back with seven straight points to knot the score at 50-50 with 8:24 to play. Christian Garcia tied things up with a drive through the lane in which he scored and was fouled for an old-fashioned three-point play. 

Mitchell finally took control behind an 11-0 run that featured back-to-back scores by Leonard Williams and a layup by Marvin Baker. The Mariners went on to lead by as many as 17 late in the game before both teams pulled their starters.

Prior to the game the Mariners honored four seniors: Hasani Williams, Baker, Matt Finke and Ibo Rivera. Finke finished with six points and four assists while Baker had four points and two rebounds. Rivera, who made his first career start, contributed two points and a rebound.