Box Score HENNIKER, N.H. The New England College men's basketball opened up New England Collegiate Conference action, as they defeated Dean College 113-94, Wednesday evening in Bridges Gym.

With the win, the Pilgrims move to 8-4, while the Bulldogs fall to 3-10.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither team was able to gain much of an edge early on as the Pilgrims held a narrow 11-9 lead five minutes in. New England College was able to gain some momentum and build on their lead about halfway through the period as they capitalized on back to back steals for a 25-17 lead. NEC had extended their lead to 17 at one point but the Bulldogs were able to fight back and cut the lead to 37-30 with just about five minutes remaining in the half. The Pilgrims were able to hold Dean off and claimed a 52-44 lead going into halftime. Kareem Octavien led New England College with 12 points in the first half while Jordan Booker had 14 for the Bulldogs.

New England College carried some momentum into the second half as they were able to increase their lead to 13 about 5 minutes into the second half with a score of 67-54. With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, the Pilgrims held an 81-65 lead as both teams kept scoring in a fast-paced game. NEC kept rolling as they increased their lead to 98-77 with five minutes to go in the game. In what was a high scoring back and forth game New England College was able to score the most as they came away with a 113-94 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-Izaiah Winston-Brooks led the team with 25 points.
-Kareem Octavien and Jamal Allen each poured in 21 points.
-Calvin Cheek dished out 10 assists and pulled down 6 rebounds.
-With today's win, the Pilgrims remain undefeated against the Bulldogs as they have won all three match-ups.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims head down to Connecticut for another NECC match-up against the Mariners of Mitchell College. The game is set to take place on Saturday, January 11th at 2:30 pm.