Newbury Edges MBB in Final Minutes
NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Mitchell College men's basketball team
dropped a 72-63 decision to Newbury College on Tuesday night at the
Yarnall Athletic Center.
Timothy Young and John Rowley Jr. each scored 15 points to lead a
balanced Newbury scoring attack. The Nighthawks (3-7 overall, 1-1
NECC) seized control in the final minutes of the contest,
outscoring the Mariners (1-9 overall, 0-3 NECC) by an 8-2 margin to
seal the victory. Junior Drew Norris led
Mitchell with 18 points.
The game was close throughout, with each team trading baskets and
taking small leads. The biggest lead for either squad in the first
half was five points, with Mitchell holding a 24-19 edge with 9:34
to play in the period. The Mariners led by four with 4:38 to play
but wouldn't score again before the halftime buzzer, allowing the
Nighthawks to close the stanza with a 7-0 run and take a 37-35 lead
into the locker room at the intermission.
The teams traded the lead back and forth in the opening minutes of
the second half, but Newbury went ahead for good at 44-43 on a
jumper by Paul Beckford Jr. with 16:15 to play. The Nighthawks
expanded the lead to eight points with just over nine minutes to
play in the contest, but the Mariners rallied for one final
comeback.
A steal and lay-up by Mitchell freshman Paul Jefferson made it a
three-point game with 5:41 to go. Newbury then missed the front end
of a one-and-one, but Beckford came up with a big rebound and
putback to push the lead back to five. On Mitchell's next
possession Norris drained a three to make it 60-58, and following a
defensive stop the Mariners had a chance to take the lead but came
up empty.
A three-pointer by Young put Newbury back up by five, but Norris
answered with another trey to make it 63-61 with 2:38 to play. The
Mariners, however, wouldn't make another field goal in the game,
and Newbury closed with eight of the final 10 points of the
contest.
Newbury shot 51 percent from the floor and went 19-of-28 from the
free throw line. Beckford finished with 12 points and nine rebounds
while Rondell Best added 11 points and five boards.
Mitchell shot 43 percent but only made nine trips to the foul line
for eight points. Norris finished with four three-pointers and
grabbed six rebounds while junior Tyler Blier added 10
points.
Mitchell returns to action against Daniel Webster College on
Saturday, January 16 at Yarnall Athletic Center. Tip-off is
scheduled for 3 p.m. Newbury will next play at Eastern Nazarene
College on Thursday, January 14 at 7 p.m.
