Bernard Leads Four in Double Digits En Route to Victory

The Newbury College men’s basketball team defeated the visiting Eastern Nazarene Lions, 83-70, Thursday evening.  Peterson Bernard (Boston, Mass./Madison Park) led the Nighthawks to victory with 22 points scored and 13 boards, both game highs.

Newbury started off strong scoring seven unanswered points to begin the game.  Max Barbosa (Dorchester, Mass./Cathedral) began the scoring for the Lions with a 3-pointer nearly four minutes into the contest.  Over the next eight minutes, the Nighthawks extended their lead to 18 points, their largest lead of the game, 27-9.  Eastern Nazarene went on a ten-point run closing the lead to eight points, 29-19, capped by a 3-pointer by Brian Hard (Weymouth, Mass/Weymouth).  Before the half, the Lions cut the lead to two, 40-38, before John Rowley (Hardford, CT/Rockville) hit two free-throws giving Newbury a 42-38 lead at half time.

The Lions began the second half tying the game with a quick bucket and a lay-up by Barbosa tying the game 42 a piece.  Timothy Young (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) responded on the next possession with a 3-pointer assisted by Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass./Brockton).  With that score, the Nighthawks never looked back holding the lead for the remainder of the game.

Watson  had a solid night offensively for the Nighthawks, following up Bernard with 18 points while dishing out a game-high six assists. Young and Rowley rounded out the foursome in double figures notching, 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Despite the loss, John Flakes Jr. (Dorchester, Mass./East Boston) led three Lions in double figures tallying a team-high 18 points while Barbosa  netted 16 on evening. Aaron Johnson (Boston, Mass./Boston Trinity Academy) was the third member of the Lions to record double digits, tallying 11 points.

With the win Newbury improve to 9-13 on the season while Eastern Nazarene falls to 7-15. The Nighthawks return to the hard-court on Saturday February 12^th when they host Mitchell College in their final home game of the season at 2:00pm. Before the game the Nighthawks will honor Rowley for his four years of dedication to the men’s basketball program.

- Game photo by: Samantha Yanofsky