NEW LONDON, N.H. -- Avery DeBrito dialed up a career-best 34 points to lead the University of New England in a 90-79 men's basketball triumph over Colby-Sawyer College on Wednesday evening (Jan. 15) at Coffin Field House.
The Nor'easters (8-7) tossed in a season-high 15 three-pointers to out-score the hosts by 24 from behind the arc. DeBrito, who exceeded his previous scoring high by nine, made 6-of-12 from deep in the contest, while Siddiq Canty added four and Alex Kravchuk three.
Canty produced 22 points and Kravchuk posted a double-double of 18 points with 13 rebounds. DeBrito also registered eight boards and five assists.
For the Chargers (6-7), Patrick Coffey went for 18 points. Dana Bean contributed 15 points and 10 caroms, while Terrance Harvey, Jr. recorded 14 points with eight rebounds.
UNE faced its only deficit of the 2nd half at 61-58 with 11:11 to go, before rattling off 10 unanswered to regain control. DeBrito and Canty hit back-to-back treys and then DeBrito notched four points more to cap the run. The Nor'easters extended the gap to 11 (79-68), only to see it reduced to just three (81-78) with 2:48 left, but tallied the last seven points to finish off the result.
Kravchuk scored all but two of his points (16) in the period to equal DeBrito's output, and UNE shot 47 percent from the floor compared to 35 percent by Colby-Sawyer.
Early on, the Chargers jumped out to a 10-1 lead, but 12 in-a-row got the Nor'easters right back in it. After things shifted back-and-forth a couple times, the visitors settled on a 41-36 edge at the break.
UNE nudged that cushion up to 56-47 coming out of the half, but a 14-2 stretch from Colby-Sawyer in barely three minutes of action briefly flipped the advantage.
The Nor'easters return home to face Western New England University in a Commonwealth Coast Conference match on Saturday (3 p.m.). UNE will be decked out in St. Francis College throwback uniforms.