Jan 03, 2015
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Junior guard Devin Thompson scored 16 of his game-high 25 points after halftime to help rally the University of New England to a 63-60 win over Anna Maria College in the consolation game of the Red & Black Holiday Tournament Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3) at Wesleyan University's Silloway Gymnasium.
The victory snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Nor'easters, who improved to 2-7. The Amcats now also sport an identical 2-7 mark.
Supporting Thompson and UNE was first-year Drew Coveney with nine points, six assists, and five steals. Sophomores CJ Autry and Jean-Luc-Parker added eight points apiece; Autry also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
Anna Maria got a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds out of Quantez Franklin, while Kyle McKissick chipped in with 15 points and Pat Bradanese contributed eight.
Trailing 51-43 with 7:55 on the clock, Big Blue tallied 11 unanswered points -- four from Coveney and then Thompson, and capped by an Autry trey -- to gain its first advantage on the scoreboard (54-51) in more than 31 minutes.
Bradanese responded moments later with a three-pointer and Franklin gave the Amcats a 56-54 edge on the next trip, only to see Coveney connect from deep and move UNE ahead.
The game was tied at 58-58 when Thompson dropped in his fifth three-pointer with 0:58 to play, giving the Nor'easters the lead for good.
Franklin came up short on a bid for a three-point play with 27 ticks left, cutting the gap to 61-60, but Thompson added two free throws in the final seconds to pad the cushion. Anna Maria's half-court heave at the buzzer rattled the back iron.
After shooting just 5-for-29 (17 percent) in the opening frame, Big Blue converted at a 60 percent clip in the closing period.
In the 1st half, the Amcats used a stretch of nine straight points to build a 19-7 lead. Thompson knocked down a pair from long distance as UNE countered with a 9-2 run, but it wasn't long before a 7-0 AMC spurt had the advantage up at 31-18.
Anna Maria shot 40 percent in the stanza and held an 11-point margin, which Bradanese bumped back up to 13 (33-20) with the inital basket of the 2nd period.
UNE assembled a 19-6 stretch over seven minutes to knot the score at 39-all, but a three-point play by McKissick began a 12-4 run that kept the Amcats from falling behind.
The Nor'easters resume Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) at Wentworth Institute of Technology.