The New England College Pilgrims built a 20 point second half lead Saturday afternoon, then held off a strong Husson Eagles rally to pick up a 92-80 non-conference men’s basketball win at Newman Gym in Bangor.
Both teams held one to three point leads over the first almost five minutes of action in the first half. Jamal Allen buried a three-pointer to put NEC up six, before Husson (4-5) answered with a 6-0 run finished off with a Brett Cunningham basket to tie it. In a tie game a few minutes later, Alonzo Cooper put the visitors up for the remainder of the half with a three-pointer with 8:03 to go. The Pilgrims outscored the Eagles 19-10 from that point for a 37-25 halftime lead.
New England College (6-4) didn’t let Husson get any closer than eight over the first few minutes of the second half, and a Michael Tavilla jumper with 11:25 remaining stretched to the biggest lead at 59-39. The Eagles made a run at it getting a layup from Corey Kaiser to cap off a 21-9 run to make it a seven point game 76-69 with 3:43 left. Tavilla though drained a three-pointer 12 seconds later to push it back to 10, and Husson never got closer than eight the rest of the way in their second straight non-conference home loss. Both teams lit up the scoreboard in the second half scoring 55 points each.
Cunningham was tied for a game high in points in the Husson loss, scoring 21 and grabbing seven rebounds. Justin Thompson had 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. J Thomas added 12 points, while both Kaiser and Isiah Hart each had 10. Izaiah Winston-Brooks had 21 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the win for New England College. Allen had 19, while Tavilla added 16 points. NEC hit 10 three-pointers in the game (10-33), while Husson was only 4-20. The Pilgrims also won the turnover battle committing only eight while the Eagles committed 16. The visitors outscored the hosts 23-7 off the miscues. The Eagles next face Lawrence University and Carroll, Wisconsin next Saturday and Sunday night in the Daytona Beach Shootout at Daytona Beach, Florida.
NEC (6-4) 37 55- 92
HUS (4-5) 25 55- 80
Field goals- NEC 31-78 (39.7%) HUS 26-62 (41.9%)
Three point goals- NEC: Tavilla 4, Allen 3, Dill, Cooper, Octavien HUS: Thomas 2, Lewis, Cunningham
Free throws- NEC 20-23 (87%) HUS 24-31 (77.4%)
Turnovers- NEC 8 HUS 16
