BROOKLINE, Mass. - The Newbury College men's basketball team defeated the visiting Mariners of Mitchell College, 79-70, Saturday afternoon in NECC action. 

Nighthawks' guard Tim Young led all scorers in the game with 23 points and Peterson Bernard recorded his ninth double-double of the season tallying 18 points and 14 rebounds.   Freshman Chris Thomas led the Mariners with 14 points and added five boards in the loss.

The Nighthawks battled back from the Mariners early lead, 8-2, to begin the game. Newbury chipped away at the deficit to tie the game at 11-11 with Justin Frank picking the pocket of Tim Quinn and Young completing the layup. Young's jumper, assisted by Chris Torres, with 8:34 on the clock gave Newbury the lead for the first time in the game. The Nighthawks increased the lead to 10 at 40-30 led by John Rowley's 10 first-half points. Rowley finished his Senior Day game with 22 points and six assists.

Newbury's momentum continued after the half with eight unanswered points. A 14-2 Mariners' run led by junior Paul Jefferson pulled them to within four points, 50-46, with 12:35 remaining in the game. 

At 7:51, freshman Alex Del Rio's steal and layup tied the game at 54-54. The Mariners took the lead for the first time since early in the first half, 58-56, but it was short-lived. Young completed a three-point play after going coast-to-coast for a layup, and the Nighthawks never trailed again. Rondell Best's slam dunk ended the game and put an exclamation point on Newbury's victory.

Junior Jeff Gomez netted a career-high 12 points while Jefferson finished with 11 and Del Rio added 10. Jefferson also dished out a team-high five assists in the contest.

Newbury College's overall record improved to 10-13 and 8-5 in the NECC. Mitchell College fell to 1-20 overall and 0-12 in conference play.  

Mitchell returns to action for its home finale on Tuesday, February 15 against Lesley University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.