Stokes Nets 1,000th Point as MBB Tops ENC

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Mitchell College men's basketball team used a strong second half to pull away from Eastern Nazarene College 98-84 on Saturday afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Sophomore big man Wilton Causey (Worcester, Mass.) poured in a career-high 30 points off the bench on 15-18 shooting and also tacked on seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Junior Dontae Pollard (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) also delivered a career best day off the bench, finishing with 18 points on 9-13 shooting, while also grabbing six rebounds and handing out three assists.

Senior Alfonzo Stokes (Bloomfield, Conn.), who netted his 1,000^th career point, had 17 points and eight rebounds. Stokes reached the milestone on a layup with 2:37 left in the game to become just the sixth Mitchell men's player to reach the 1,000 career point milestone in the program's Division III era.

Fellow senior Mikey Buscetto (Waterford, Conn.) continued his recent hot stretch, notching his first double-double of the season with 12 points, a season-best 13 assists, and four steals. Jalen Benson (New London, Conn.) also contributed 11 points, six assists, and four rebounds in the win for Mariners, who remained unbeaten both at home and in conference play this season.

Mitchell shot 61.6% from the floor, outrebounded the Lions 36-29, and dished out 29 assists to just 15 for ENC. The Mariners also scored 64 points in the paint and received 52 points from their bench, second most this winter.

The Mariners carried a six-point lead into halftime, yet ENC began the second half with an 8-0 run to turn that deficit into a 53-51 edge, leading to a Mitchell timeout. Following another basket by Causey and a free throw by Kobe Jones of ENC, Mitchell's Mikey Buscetto finished on a layup, giving the home squad a lead which they would not relinquish. A 16-4 run followed to swing the momentum towards the Mariners, and their lead climbed as large as 15 when Pollard sank a jumper just passed the midway point of the stanza.

The Lions continued to battle, trimming the deficit to single-digits multiple times down the stretch, however the Mariners had an answer each time and maintained their comfortable lead on route to a 14-point victory. The 98 points marked the second highest scoring output for Mitchell in their 18 games, and the Mariners now have their second winning streak of at least five games this season.

Junior Bernie McGuinness led all scorers for ENC with 25 points, including four from long range. McGuinness also had nine rebounds, while Kobe Jones (16 points), Nick Manso (15 points), Levi White (12 points), and JaWaun Moore (11 points) also reached double figures for the Lions, who have dropped three of their last four games.

The Mariners (15-3 overall, 3-0 NECC) return to action on Thursday, February 2^nd, at home in a non-conference game against Purchase College at 6:00 pm. Eastern Nazarene (9-12 overall, 2-1 NECC) will pause for a week before hosting Lesley University on Saturday, February 4^th.