MBB Takes Care of Bears, Win Eighth Straight

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Mitchell College men's basketball team traveled across town Wednesday night, winning their eighth consecutive game, 80-66 over the Coast Guard Academy at Merriman Gymnasium. 

Jalen Benson (New London, Conn.) led the Mariners with a season-high 24 points on 8-15 shooting, and the senior added six rebounds, nine assists, and four steals. Senior Alfonzo Stokes (Bloomfield, Conn.) delivered another 20-point game, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Wilton Causey (Worcester, Mass.) reached double-figures for the fifth time, contributing 10 points and eight rebounds. Additionally, senior Mikey Buscetto (Waterford, Conn.) scored nine points and dished out 10 assists, the second time this winter the guard has hit double-digit assists.

The Mariners carried a nine-point lead into halftime, but a 10-0 run to begin the second half gave the Bears their first lead of the game. Buscetto immedatly answered with a three-pointer, and Coast Guard would not lead again for the rest of the game.

The Bears played tough however, trimming the Mitchell deficit to one on a made jumper by Declan Rooney with just under six minutes left in the game. Another three by Buscetto, followed by a pair of layups from Stokes would bump the advantage back up to eight and lead to a Coast Guard timeout with 5:06 remaining.

Jalen Benson made three free throws and a layup in the final minutes of the game to help preserve the win for the Mariners, extending their winning streak to eight games.

The eight game winning streak is the longest for the Mitchell men's basketball team since the 2013-2014 season when the Mariners reeled off nine straight victories on route to a 19-8 overall record.

The Mariners shot well from the floor all night (45.1%), and finished 10-17 from the free throw line while the Bears were just 1-4 from the stripe. Coast Guard narrowly won the rebound battle, 46-44, yet Mitchell had 10 more assists than the Bears, turned the ball over two fewer times, and outscored the home team 42-35 in points off turnovers.

The Mariners (8-1) will look to make it nine wins in a row when they travel across town on Saturday, December 10^th, for a non-conference showdown against Connecticut College at 2:00 pm. The Camels, who fell 77-66 Tuesday to Baruch College, have a 7-2 record on the season.