NEW LONDON, N.H. Freshman Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lift the Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team past in-state rival New England College, 83-75, in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action on Saturday afternoon.

Colby-Sawyer improves to 10-11 overall and 7-7 in the NAC. New England College drops to 11-10 overall and 6-8 in the conference.

NEC LEADERS
New England College received a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds from freshman Izaiah Winston-Brooks (Roxbury, Mass.). He added team highs of five assists and three steals. Sophomores Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass.) and Jack Hostetler (Somers, Conn.) had 14 points apiece. Sophomore Ricky Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) also reached double figures with 12 points before fouling out.


COLBY-SAWYER LEADERS
Bean led all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting. He added three blocks. Sophomore Jourdain Bell (Manchester, N.H.) added 19 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Milani Hicks (Scarborough, Maine) contributed 12 points, six assists five rebounds and four steals. Freshman Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) rounded out the four Chargers in double figures with 15 points. Junior Taylor Grande (Bedford, N.H.) added seven assists and five steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Chargers raced out to their largest lead of the first half, five minutes in at 17-6 after a Hicks jumper. NEC responded with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes capped by a Hostetler trey to come within a point (19-18). After Colby-Sawyer pushed its lead back to eight with 5:22 remaining in the first, the Pilgrims rattled off eight straight points to take their first lead of the game at 39-38. The teams then went back and forth for the final three minutes of the half. A Hicks layup sent Colby-Sawyer into the locker room ahead 46-42. Colby-Sawyer made six more buckets than NEC, but the Pilgrims were 14-of-18 from the free throw line to keep it close.

Winston-Brooks knotted the game at 52-52, after his only three-pointer of the game, early into the second half. Colby-Sawyer then slowly created separation on the scoreboard using momentum from dunks on back-to-back possessions by Bean and Hicks to take a 13-point lead midway through the frame. The Pilgrims fought back with a quick 9-0 spurt capped by a Leonard trey to cut the deficit to four with 9:20 to play. NEC came within three on two occasions, but the Chargers thwarted a comeback and made timely free throws down the stretch to hang on for the 83-75 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT'S NEXT
The Chargers will host Johnson State on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Pilgrims will return to Henniker to host Lyndon on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.