Box Score HENNIKER, N.H. The New England College men's basketball earned a 82-57 victory over Dean College in their New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) debut.

The Pilgrims will improve to 5-1 on the season with a 1-0 record in the NECC while Dean will fall to 4-4 overall with a 0-1 record in the NECC.

NEC LEADERS
Ricky Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) led all players in scoring with 19 points. Calvin Cheek (Mattapan, Mass.) and Izaiah Winston-Brooks (Roxbury, Mass.) added 15 and 15 points each. Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass.) earned the first double-double for the Pilgrims as he finished with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Cheek added five assists and four steals for the Pilgrims.

DEAN LEADERS
Dayvon Russell led the Bulldog offense with 15 points. Randolf Thurman and Jordan Booker added 12 points each. Russell also came down with eight rebounds and had five assists for the Bulldogs.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bulldogs forced a quick Pilgrim turnover and drove the floor to a Booker three-point shot which gave the first lead in the contest. Booker drove for a layup and Armani Baker hit a free-throw to end the Bulldog lead to 6-0. The Pilgrims would close the gap to one on a Winston-Brooks jumper but Dean responded and opened the lead back to five. Cheek would convert a three-point play to give the Pilgrims their first lead of the contest at 15-13. However, the Bulldogs would hit a jump shot, a three-pointer, and a layup to take back the lead and give themselves a five-point cushion. Alonzo Cooper (Hyde Park, Mass.) fired a three that tied the game at 20 which came with 8:57 remaining in the half. From there, the Pilgrims would outscore the Bulldogs by a 22-5 margin to close out the half.

The Pilgrims would hold their sizeable lead throughout most of the half but Dean did close the lead to as little as 14 on two separate occasions, a Booker three and a Dayvon Russell layup, both coming with under five minutes remaining in regulation. The Pilgrims shot 44.6% from the field compared to Dean's 27.9%.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims will return to the floor on Saturday in another NECC matchup. They will host Newbury College with the opening tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m.