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Recap | Box Score
Young, Nighthawks Hold On For Victory
The Newbury College men’s basketball team completed the double-header sweep with a 68-62 victory over Wheelock College, Tuesday evening. Sophomore guard Timothy Young (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) led all scorers with game-high 21 points in the win.
After winning the opening tip, sophomore guard Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) set the tone for the game, driving the baseline to give the Nighthawks the early 2-0 advantage 24 seconds into the contest. It was tight, physical battle for the first 10 minutes before Newbury was able to start to pull away.
Midway through the half, freshman forward Justin Franks (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Rye Neck) sparked a 12-2 Nighthawk run to increase their lead to 17, their largest lead of the game. Wildcat sophomore Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, Mass./Weston) broke up the string converting a second chance lay-up to close the gap to 15.
Junior guard Kyle Pierce (Burlington, Mass./Burlington) cut the deficit to 13, shortly after, but Young responded, draining his third trey in five minutes to push the Newbury lead to 16. Young was lights out in the opening period, firing four of seven from beyond the arc for 12 of his 16 first half points as the Nighthawks took a 39-26 lead into the locker room.
When the teams returned for the start of the second, freshman guard Eric Watson (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) quickly picked up where Newbury left off at the end of the first. Watson picked the pocket of junior center Eric Rice (Woburn, Mass./Woburn Memorial) and took it back down court for the fast break lay-up to increase the lead to 15. But Rice answered converting a second chance lay-up for the Wildcats first points of the half.
Momentum appeared to have shifted at 14:16 in the second. Wildcat junior Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cypress Bay) ignited a 12-0 run, knocking down one of two from the charity stripe. But Newbury sophomore forward Rondell Best (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) came through in the clutch and pushed the lead back to eight with a long range trey from Watson.
Cutting the deficit down to five was a rejuvenation for the Wildcat team as they outscored the Nighthawks, 36-29, in the second half. Pierce came alive in the second, netting 14 of his team-high 20 points. He made it a one possession game, knocking down both free throws but it was not enough. Newbury sophomore forward Peterson Bernard (Boston, Mass./Madison Park) responded battling tough under the glass for a lay-up to increase the lead to four.
With the win, Newbury improves to 7-5 in the conference and 8-13 overall while Wheelock drops to 5-6 in the NECC and 9-12 overall. The Nighthawks return to the hard-court on Thursday February 8th when they host non-conference Eastern Nazarene College at 8:00pm.
- Game photo by: Samantha Yanofsky
