Strong Second Half Lifts Green Mountain College Men’s Basketball Past NEC
HENNIKER, N.H. – Green Mountain College men’s basketball guard Carnelius Green (Oviedo, Fla.) recorded a triple-double finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists leading the Eagles past the New England College Pilgrims 69-56 Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Eagles improve to 2-11 overall and pick up their first North Atlantic Conference (NAC) win improving to 1-6 in conference. The loss drops the Pilgrims to 1-13 on the season and 1-13 in NAC play.
The two teams would battle back-and-forth through an opening half that saw the score tied six times and seven lead changes. Green Mountain would grab control of the game late in the half as the Eagles would grab their largest lead up 35-28 with 48 seconds on the clock but NEC’s Abdirahman Mohamed (Biddeford, Maine) would sink a three-pointer as time expired sending NEC into halftime trailing 35-31.
The teams would continue to battle closely through the majority of the second half before the Eagles would use a 14-2 run in the final minutes building a 63-51 lead with 1:40 on the clock. The Pilgrims would cut the lead to nine with just under a minute on the clock but the Eagle defense would hold strong for the 69-56 victory.
In addition to Green, Green Mountain was led by Chris Strong (Fort Worth, Texas) who finished with a game-high 16 points and Robert Holloway (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) who chipped in 15 points for the Eagles.
Leading the way for NEC was Mohamed who finished with a team-high 12 points and Javon Williams (New Britain, Conn.) who chipped in 10 points for the Pilgrims. NEC’s Jonathan Byrnes (Bethel, Conn.) and Dezron Williams (Hartford, Conn.) each pulled down seven rebounds.
NEC returns to action Saturday, Jan. 19 when they host in-state NAC rival Colby-Sawyer College. Green Mountain will hit the court on Thursday, Jan. 17 when they host NAC foe Lyndon State College.
Scoring by half 1 2 Total
Green Mountain College 35 34 69
New England College 31 25 56
