LEICESTER, Mass – The third seeded Becker College defeated the sixth seeded Daniel Webster, 81-64 in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball playoff action on Tuesday night. The win lifts the Hawks record to 15-11, while the Eagles season comes to an end with a record of 8-18.
Daniel Webster sophomore Ryan Gauthier (Nashua, NH) led all scorers with 26 points while grabbing 4 rebounds. Kevin Perez (Nashua NH) had a double-double scoring 13 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.
Ford-Hayes paced the offense for Becker scoring 19 points and 7 rebounds. Scott Dulaire had a double-double for the home team with 17 points and ten rebounds. Kyle Credle (Queens, NY) had 14 points and David Maturah (Windsor Locks, Conn) scored 11. Tyler Roberson (Irvington, NJ) pulled down 11 boards to lead Becker in that department.
Becker scored the first 10 points of the night thanks to a swarming defense keyed by four steals; two by sophomore forward Scott Dulaire (Bloomfield, Conn). The home team closed out the first half on a 14-1 run to head into the locker room up 38-18.
The two teams traded scores throughout the second half, until Donovin Ford-Hayes (Windsor Locks, Conn) made a layup followed by a big three pointer extending the Hawks lead to 62-42 with just over six minutes to play in the game. Two big dunks by Scott Dulaire pushed the Becker lead back to 15 with just under four minutes to play.
The Hawks will take on the second seeded Mariners of Mitchell College (17-7, 12-4 NECC) in semi-final action on Friday, February 28 at 8:00 p.m. at Elms College.