Men's Basketball Falls Short at Southern Vermont
BENNINGTON, Vt. - A hot start wasn't enough for the Mitchell
College men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as the
Mariners fell 75-69 to Southern Vermont College at the Field
House.
Derrick Cenicola and Lance Spratling led Southern Vermont (4-5
overall, 1-0 NECC) with 26 points apiece. Senior Mike DePaolo led
Mitchell (1-7 overall, 0-1 NECC) with a season-high 26 points, one
shy of his career high.
The Mariners scored the first eight points of the contest to take
control. Sophomore Alex Vess opened the
scoring with a lay-up and junior Drew Norris and DePaolo
each followed with three-pointers.
The Mountaineers quickly pulled things together and battled back to
take their first lead a 17-16 with 13:33 remaining. The
Mariners then regained the lead with a three from Norris,
who finished 5-of-9 from downtown for a career-high 21
points.
The momentum shifted once again when Spratling laid it in for two
and Cenicola hit a three to make it 24-20 in Southern Vermont's
favor. The Mountaineers bumped the lead to as many as 11
points in the stanza but led by only two, 38-36, at the half.
Cenicola scored 15 of his 26 points in the first half, all from
behind the arc.
Southern Vermont never trailed in the second half and led by as
many as 10 points. The Mariners, however, kept chipping away
with key treys from Norris and DePaolo. Mitchell cut the
deficit to 68-67 on a three by Norris with 2:01 to go in the game,
but Southern Vermont closed the door by going 7-of-10 from the free
throw line in the final minutes.
Cenicola finished 7-of-8 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 from the
charity stripe. Joe Karnik had 11 points and nine rebounds while
Cam Herrington contributed eight points
and 12 boards to round out the Mountaineers
attack.
Vess finished with a career-high 11 points in 22 minutes and added
a team-high seven rebounds. The Mariners, who played
without leading scorer Eric Murray (15.9 ppg)
and big man Jenel
Russell (9.0 ppg), committed only 13 turnovers in the
contest.
Mitchell will take an extended break during the winter
intermission. The Mariners return to action at Wheelock
College on Saturday, January 9 at 2 p.m.
