Rafael Salado led the Pilgrims with 21 points in NEC's loss to Salve Regina on Saturday.
Stong first half lifts Seahawks past Pilgrims
Salve Regina’s Justin Woodworth (Ipswitch, Mass.) would shoot 9-for-16 from three point range and finish with a game-high 31 points lifting the Seahawks past New England College 98-75 Saturday afternoon. With the win the Seahawks even their overall record at 9-9 and improve to 5-2 in conference play. The loss drops the Pilgrims to 2-16 overall and 0-7 in the conference.
The Seahawk offense would come out on fire outscoring the Pilgrims 26-7 in the opening 6:39 of the game. NEC would battle back as the Pilgrims would cut the lead to just six trailing 25-31 with 8:29 remaining in the first. Salve Regina’s Andrew Knight (Danvers, Mass.) would sink four consecutive free-throws and Woodworth would drain back-to-back buckets late giving the Seahawks the 54-37 halftime lead.
The Salve Regina offense would continue to control much of the play in the second half as the Seahawks would score four three-pointers within a minute to go up 78-52 midway through the half. The Pilgrims would score the final eight points of the game but it would not be enough as the Seahawks would cruise to the 98-75 victory
In addition to Woodworth, Salve Regina was led by Andrew Knight and Ryan Birrell (Hope, R.I.) who each chipped in 13 points for the Seahawks. Salve Regina’s Dan Royce (Mahwah, N.J.) scored seven points and finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
Leading the way for NEC was Shane Hennessey (Plymouth, England) who finished with 19 points and six rebounds. NEC’s Rafael Salado (Boston, Mass.) scored a team-high 21 points for the Pilgrims and Spencer Marzouk (Greensboro, N.C.) chipped in 13 points.
