NEW LONDON, N.H. – December 13, 2018 – The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team dropped a 95-66 non-league game to intrastate rival New England College on Thursday evening.

New England College improves to 7-1. The Pilgrims head to Fort Lauderdale, Florida next Thursday for two games at the Cruzin' Classic. Colby-Sawyer falls to 6-3. The Chargers will resume action at the end of the month with a pair of games at the Salem State Holiday Classic.  

The two teams met in last year's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship game.

Needing 11 points to reach 1000 career points, NEC junior Izaiah Winston Brooks (Roxbury, Mass.) scored 14 to become the 18th Pilgrim to achieve the feat. The Pilgrims were led by senior Rickey Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) who scored 30 points on 12-of-16 shooting. The nation's leader in steals per game Calvin Cheek (Mattapan, Mass.) added to his impressive total with seven tonight to go along with 11 points and seven assists.  

Colby-Sawyer received 15 points from junior Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.). Senior Jourdain Bell (Manchester, N.H.) contributed 13 points and three steals to move into 6th on the all-time steals list with 164. Junior Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) moved into 10th in career rebounds with 533 after registering eight boards and 10 points.

The first half was fast-paced and cleanly played with just six fouls for each team. The Chargers held an early 13-10 lead after a Dana Bean layup, four minutes into the contest. NEC responded with an 8-0 spurt capped by a Leonard layup to take an 18-13 lead with 13:27 to play. NEC held a lead for the next six minutes until the Chargers were able to tie the score at 25-25 on a Bean free throw. The teams would go back and forth and the game was tied once again at 34-34 with less than five minutes to play. Winston-Brooks notched his 1000th point with a three-pointer with 1:48 left in the first half and gave NEC a 43-37 lead. Allen would then make a pair of free throws and a layup down the stretch to send the visitors in front 47-37 at the half.

The Pilgrims scored 30 points in the paint in the first half and turned 19 Colby-Sawyer miscues into 23 points.

NEC used a 16-7 run in the first seven minutes of the second half to create separation and never looked back. The Pilgrims shot 58.1% from the floor in the second and made 8-of-13 from beyond the arc to earn third win in a row.

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