BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southern Vermont College took a 72-51 victory Thursday night at the Mountaineer Athletic Center, defeating Daniel Webster College to remain undefeated in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball play.
The Mountaineers are now 11-3 overall on the season and 5-0 against the league while DWC falls to 3-8 on the year, 0-3 in NECC action.
Southern Vermont was led by junior DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Connecticut) who had game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Senior captainDolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Maryland) followed with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and freshman Daemond Carter (Forestville, Maryland) notched a season-best 10 points to go with a pair of steals. Junior Jeff James (Bowie, Maryland) recorded six points, five assists and two steals in just 15 minutes of action.
Eagle sophomore Shawn Fenton (South River, New Jersey) led his team offensively with 14 points while grabbing five rebounds, and classmate Ray Farmer (Nashua, New Hampshire) added 10 points and seven boards in the effort. Junior Ryan Gauthier (Nashua, New Hampshire) chipped in with six points and three assists while junior Michael Campbell (Mount Vernon, New York) also had six points and tied the team-high of seven rebounds.
The Mountaineers shot 43.5 percent (27-62) from the floor on the night while holding DWC to just 31.5 percent (17-54). SVC held a slight 41-39 edge on the boards and turned the ball over just nine times compared to the Eagles' 16. The Southern Vermont bench outscored Daniel Webster's 39-7, and the hosts owned a 38-18 advantage on points in the paint for the night.
An early technical foul led to Southern Vermont needing to go to its bench earlier than anticipated as the Eagles took to a quick 6-2 lead. The Mountaineers scored the next two baskets before Hamlet grabbed a pair of his own misses and connected on the third attempt while being fouled; he hit the free throw to put his team ahead 9-6 with 13:56 to go in the first half.
Less than a minute later, another Hamlet layup sparked a 16-0 SVC run that concluded with a second Hamlet old-fashioned three-point play. Southern Vermont went up 29-12 with 4:23 when, coming out of an SVC timeout, Olugbile drove the lane and made a nice underhand pass to Hamlet who made the uncontested layup.
Farmer hit a great turn-around jumper off the glass, and sophomore Angelo Adon (Silver Spring, Maryland) then knocked down a three to make it 29-17 in favor of the Mountaineers. But SVC responded with a trey by junior William Bromirski (Cambridge, New York), and the teams traded baskets through the remainder of the half for the Mountaineers to take a 34-23 lead into halftime.
A few minutes into the second period, Olugbile spotted up at the top of the arc and drilled a three to put his team ahead 41-27, and SVC then went on a 7-0 run to increase its advantage to the eventual difference. Daniel Webster would not get closer than 15 points the rest of the way while the Mountaineers kept their separation for the 72-51 victory.
Southern Vermont is back on the road Saturday for a 3 p.m. NECC tip-off at Wheelock while the Eagles host Newbury College the same day at 2:30 p.m.