MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-The New England College men's basketball team picked up its first win of the season by downing Fitchburg State 78-64 on Saturday in the consolation game of the Middlebury College Tournament.

With the win NEC improves to 1-1 on the season, while Fitchburg falls to 0-2.

NEC LEADERS
The Pilgrims received a game-high 21 points from All-Tournament selection Izaiah Winston-Brooks (Roxbury, Mass.). Winston-Brooks shot 5-for-12 from the floor but hit 11 of 13 attempts at the free-throw line.

NEC also received 13-point performances from starter Ricky Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) and from Trevor Parker (Dorchester, Mass.) off the bench.

Freshman Kareem Octavian (Cambridge, Mass.) brought down a team-best eight rebounds.

FITCHBURG LEADERS
Fitchburg received 21 points from Joshua Bosworth on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor and an 7-for-8 effort at the free-throw line. Jerrell Gomes added 12 points, while Brandon Harris chipped in with 14 points off the bench.

Bosworth also brought down nine rebounds, one short of a double-double.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In the low-scoring opening half, the Pilgrims jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening three minutes of play, fueled by five points from Leonard. That advantage moved to nine (13-4) on a jumper by Calvin Cheek (Mattapan, Mass.) with 10:38 remaining.

The Falcons answered with a 16-4 run over the next five minutes, capped off on layup from Joshua Bosworth for a 20-17 edge. On the next possession, a three-point field goal from New England College's Parker knotted the contest at 20-20. Fitchburg State ended the half with 13 of the last 15 minutes, including a three from the left corner by Parker as the halftime buzzer sounded for a 33-22 lead.

Out of the half, the Falcons scored 12 of the opening 15 points, cutting the deficit to just two (36-34) on a layup from Gomes with 15:31 left. The Pilgrim lead moved between two and seven over the next few minutes, before a layup from Fitchburg State's Nicholas Tracy pulled the Falcons to within one (52-51) with just over nine minutes remaining. After trading threes, the Pilgrims rattled off an 11-2 run for a 66-56 lead and were never threatened again the rest of the contest.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims host their home opener on Tuesday, November 21^st at 5:30 p.m. against in-state rival, Rivier University.