HENNIKER, N.H.-The New England College men's basketball team overcame a 14-point deficit and ran away with a 95-75 victory over Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday afternoon in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action.

The Pilgrims improve to 12-4 overall and 8-1 in NAC play with their sixth-straight win, while the Chargers fall to 10-5 overall and 7-2 in league action.

NEC LEADERS
All five starters scored in double-figures for NEC, led by freshman Calvin Cheek (Mattapan, Mass.) with 18 points. He also tallied six steals to remain the NCAA Division III leader in both steals and steals per game.
Junior Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass.) had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman Kareem Octavien (Cambridge, Mass.) also had 14 points, while Izaiah Winston-Brooks (Roxbury, Mass.) and junior Ricky Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman Trevor Parker (Dorchester, Mass.) also had 11 points off the bench.

COLBY-SAWYER LEADERS
The Chargers received 2 points from Taylor Grande. Patrick Coffey scored 14 points, while Dana Bean chipped in with 11. Erik Olson had 10 points off the bench.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half proved to be a series of streaks, beginning with a 7-0 run for Colby-Sawyer over the first two-and-a-half minutes of the game. The Pilgrims responded with their own 9-2 run to cut Colby-Sawyer's lead to two points with 16:20 to play in the first half and took a brief four-point lead over the next minute, but the Chargers went on yet another scoring run over the next four minutes to quickly open a nine-point gap.

The Pilgrims led once more midway through the period, but the Chargers took an eight-point lead into halftime.

Colby-Sawyer dominated the first part of the second half and led by 14 points with 13:09 remaining in the half, but that proved to be a tipping point for the Pilgrims, who only missed one shot over next seven minutes of play to tie the score at 67-67 with 6:55 on the clock. NEC kept the momentum going, using a 7-2 run to take the lead at 75-70. NEC ended the game with a 20-5 run for a 20-point victory.

NEC shot 61.8 percent from the floor (21-34) in the second half while holding the Chargers to just 11 field goals.

The Pilgrims held a 59-32 advantage in points in the paint, a 34-21 edge in points off turnovers, and a 27-16 lead in fast-break points.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Lyndon State College at 7:30 p.m.