Box Score HENNIKER, N.H. The New England College men's basketball team locks up the top seed in the upcoming New England Collegiate Conference Playoffs, following an 89-78 hard-fought victory over Eastern Nazarene College, Wednesday evening in Bridges Gym.

With the win, the Pilgrims move to 19-6 overall and 10-2 in conference action, while the Lions fall to 13-12 and 8-4 in NECC play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half for the Lions and the Pilgrims was back and forth. The largest lead in the game was for the Lions with the score being 6-3. After that, the lead never stayed long for either team throughout the half. Things started to heat up when both teams received technical fouls with the score tied at 26-26 with 5:50 remaining in the first half. The Pilgrims used the momentum from this and started to pull ahead for the first time in the game. Calvin Cheek proceeded to make a run down the court with a side step around his defender to give a pass to Jamal Allen, who hit the final three. The Pilgrims lead the Lions going into halftime 38-35.

Eastern Nazarene opened up the second half like the first with a three-pointer that tied things up at 38-38. New England College quickly regained control, as they were ahead 59-55 with just under 10 minutes to play. NEC pulled away some but the Lions came right back as the Pilgrims were up 71-68 with four minutes to play. Eastern Nazarene kept rolling as they reclaimed the lead at 74-73 with 2:51 to play. That lead would not last long though as New England College scored 10 straight points for an 83-74 lead with 56 seconds to play. New England College pulled out the win with a final steal from Calvin Cheek. The Pilgrims won the game 89-78.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-Stephen Famahad a career-high seven steals.
-Izaiah Winston-Brooks had a game-high 26 points.
-Calvin Cheek had a near triple-double with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
-NEC extends their regular-season home win streak to 19 games with today's win.
-After the game, the Lions still lead the all-time series 24-14.
-Earlier in the day, NEC was ranked 11^th in Division III Men's Basketball Northeast Regional Poll.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Pilgrims head into NECC playoffs as the top seed, as they will wait until the NECC Semifinal on February 27^th.