Junior captain Jamie Davies will look to lead the Pilgrim offense this season.
Men's Basketball looking for playoff return
New England College men’s basketball finished their 2007-08 season with a record of 7-18 overall and 2-11 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC.) The Pilgrims finished their season winning two if their final four games, including a double-digit win over TCCC opponent Eastern Nazarene and a one-point win over Anna Maria College.
Seventh year head coach Charlie Mason will have a huge leadership shoes to fill losing senior Ryan Jaziri and Kingsley Onyechi to graduation. Jaziri finished is career as the all-time leading scorer in New England College history totaling 1861points. Last season Jaziri led the Pilgrims and the TCCC in scoring averaging 24.3 points per game and picked up TCCC 2nd Team All-Conference honors. Onyechi will be a huge loss on the boards as he led the team in rebounding last season averaging 8.6 per game and contributing 17.8 points per game.
The Pilgrims do return junior guard Jamie Davies (Plymouth, U.K.) Davies started all 25 games for the Pilgrims last season dishing out a team-high 74 assists and averaging 4.7 points per game. Also returning at the guard position is junior Rafael Salado (Boston, Mass.) Salado played in 23 games last season averaging 4.4 points per game while shooting 43% from the field. Returning at the forward position will be sophomore Shane Hennessey (Plymouth, U.K.) Hennessey played in all 25 games last season and finished second on the team in rebounding averaging 6.9 per game and was second on the team in blocks with 15 on the season. Junior Joel Booker (East Preston, U.K) will also see some time at forward. Last season Booker played in just eight games averaging 2.8 points per game.
The Pilgrims will lean on a talented group of first-year players this season. Newcomers Spencer Marzouk (Greensboro, N.C.,) Brandon Murray (Roxbury, Mass.,) Eric Lenahan (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) and Grant Leger (Chatsworth, Calif.) will look to bring speed and agility to the Pilgrim backcourt. Anders Alknes (Rykkinn, Norway) and Eric Eklund (W. Harrison, N.Y.) will help out Hennessey down below the basket at the forward position.
