LEICESTER, Mass. --- The Newbury College men's basketball were going to be a part of history either way on the second Tuesday evening in 2013. However, the Nighthawks were on the plus side of history, snapping Becker College's 37-game conference regular season win streak, dating back to 2010, with the 74-63 victory in the latter game of the twin-bill.
Senior center Peterson Bernard (Boston, Mass.) was a force inside for Newbury, scoring 12 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks. Bernard helped the Nighthawks dominate on the boards, 50-37. Junior guard Steve Rosemond (Everett, Mass.) led the potent Nighthawk offensive attack with a game-high 16 points while senior guard Tim Young (Brockton, Mass.) contributed 12 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Aggressive defense and balanced offensive attack helped the Nighthawks seize control early. Junior guard Eric Watson (New Rochelle, N.Y.) knocked down a jumper to put Newbury up by seven and cap off a 10-2 run. After Becker responded with back-to-back treys, sophomore guard Milciades Carrasco (Haverhill, Mass.) and junior guard Kwame Thompson (Brockton, Mass.) answered the bell drain threes of their own to keep the Nighthawks on top.
Becker first year guard Darius Sealy (Cambridge, Mass.) sparked a 10-2 run late in the first half however the Hawks were unable to distance themselves from the Nighthawks. Senior forward Kenneth Melendez (Harlem, N.Y.) and junior forward Adam James (Queens, N.Y.) were crucial in the waning minutes of the first half, knocking down the last seven points for Newbury, as they only trailed by four, 37-33 going into the locker room.
When the teams returned to the court at the start of the second half, Becker appeared as if they were going to back the lead, jumping out to a quick seven-point, 41-35 lead. But the Nighthawks were resilient as they used their physical and bruising defense to ground the Hawks' lethal offense. They finally knotted up the contest for the first time in the second period at 52-52 off a three-point play from Young with 12:40 remaining in the game and they did not look back.
With just over six minutes left the game, the Nighthawks went up by seven - tying their largest lead of the game - following a lay-up from Bernard. On the very next Becker possession and with the shot clock ticking down, Mike Russell (East Hampton, N.Y.) hit a huge three to keep the Hawks in it, 61-57. However, it was not enough as the Nighthawks made their shots down the stretch, going up by eight on a jumper from Watson with 1:26 remaining while Young tacked on a three from the top of the key with 43 seconds left.
Newbury improves to 5-5 on the season and remains of the two undefeated teams in the NECC with a perfect 3-0 record while Becker falls to 6-6 and 2-1 in the conference. The Nighthawks returns to the hard-court on Thursday evening traveling to Westfield State University for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off against the Owls while the Hawks will also be in action Thursday, on the road against Lesley University at 8:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
Becker came one game shy of surpassing Buffalo State's 37-game streak from 1978-81 for the longest regular season conference winning streak in Division III.