NEW LONDON, Conn. – With the game tied at 6.3 seconds remaining in regulation and the game all square at 81, sophomore guard Steve Rosemond (Everett, Mass.) drained a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to propel the Newbury College men's basketball team to the 83-81 victory over Mitchell College Saturday afternoon.
Rosemond took the inbounds pass in his own backcourt and brought the ball up the right sideline. After Mariner defender disrupted his route, he worked his way into the lane before launching the buzzer-beating jumper that swished through the hoop. The Everett, Mass. native was one of five Nighthawks in double figures, finishing the game with a team-high 23 points.
Mitchell had tied the game on the previous possession after Newbury failed to build on a two-point lead from the foul line on a one-and-one opportunity. The Mariners came up the floor and chose not to call timeout, instead working the ball around the perimeter for either the tying or go-ahead points. Senior Enoch Contreras (Boca Raton, Fla.) finally drove into the paint and dished off to classmate Alex Vess (Middletown, Conn.) for a baseline jumper that tied the game at 81-81.
The finish capped an exciting second half that was close throughout. Each team held the lead four times over the final 20 minutes as neither side could land a knockout punch. Mitchell took its biggest lead at 61-54 with 12:35 to go following a lay-up by freshman Alex Pires (Valhalla, N.Y.), but Newbury answered right back with seven straight points to tie things up. The Nighthawks later went up by five with 7:41 to play, but Mitchell fired back on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to one. Neither team led by more than two points in the final 6:28.
In the first half, the Nighthawks seized control behind a 14-0 run that left them ahead 19-7 with 14:34 remaining. Rosemond scored 10 points during the stretch on his way to 14 by the intermission. The Mariners, however, responded by scoring 13 of the next 15 points to claw back into the contest; but the Nighthawks still managed to take a three-point 45-42 lead into the locker room.
All of the Nighthawks' scoring came from five players. Sophomore guard Kwame Thompson (Brockton, Mass.) also finished with 23 points while Tim Young (Brockton, Mass.) added 15. Sophomore guard Eric Watson (New Rochelle, N.Y.) contributed 12 points off the bench while Jason Marshall (Fairburn, Ga.) netted all 10 of his points in the first half.
The victory propels the Nighthawks into a two-way tie for fourth place with Daniel Webster, improving to 7-8 in the conference and 10-14 overall while the Mariners fall to 3-11 in the NECC and 5-16 overall. Newbury will close out the regular season Tuesday evening when they tip-off against Regis College at 7:00 p.m.