NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Lesley University men's basketball team saw their second half lead slip away as they dropped a New England Collegiate Conference contest 91-86 this afternoon at Mitchell College. The loss drops the Lynx to 5-18 on the season and 4-10 in NECC play while the Mariner's comeback improves them to 8-12 overall and 6-7 in the conference standings.
Lesley's Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) led four Lynx who finished in double-figures as he tied a career-high with six three-pointers on his way to a team-best 29 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal to his line on the day. Today marked the second consecutive game the junior guard finished with 29 points and his 17th game finishing in double-figures on the season.
Fellow junior Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) poured in a season-high 19 points while classmate Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) added 11 for the guests. Senior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) finished with ten points, eight of which came from the charity stripe, and led all players with six dimes. Senior Corbin Polec (Okemos, Mich.) added nine points and seven boards for the guests.
Mitchell senior Donovan McLean (Jersey City, N.J.) knocked down all ten of his free throw attempts and led all players with 33 points while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Senior Parris Hill (Stockton, Calif.) netted 25 points while Frank Martin (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) added ten.
Mitchell jumped in front early as McClean and Hill combined for the team's first 17 points, staking the Mariners to a 17-9 lead with 13:51 to play in the half. Polec then jumpstarted the Lynx with consecutive baskets, sparking a 17-4 run over the next five minutes that resulted in a 26-21 Lesley lead following a layup by Toney with 8:52 to go.
Later in the half, Mitchell tied the game at 28-28 on a three-point play by Domenico Santiago (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) with 5:30 remaining. McClean followed with a three-point play of his own to give the lead back to the Mariners, though Lesley scored the next nine points to vault back in front. The Lynx held the lead for the rest of the stanza and took a slim 38-37 advantage into the locker room at the break.
Lesley led for a good portion of the second half, seizing its biggest lead at 61-54 thanks to 6-0 stretch that featured layups by Polec, St. Simon and Barletta. Mitchell responded by scoring the next 12 points to take back the lead for good. Brayvon Young (Port St. Lucie, Fla) kicked off the stretch with a three-pointer while Hill supplied the final nine points of the run, giving the Mariners a 66-61 edge with 9:32 to play.
The Lynx cut the deficit to one with 6:50 to go, but Mitchell answered with six straight points to keep the advantage. McClean later buried seven free throws in the final 1:17 to seal the victory.
Mitchell shot 51% (30-of-59) for the contest and converted on 27 of 34 attempts at the charity stripe while Lesley hit on 47% (28-of-60) of their attempts from the field, but struggled from the line, knocking down 21 of 36 of their tries.
Lesley returns to action at home against Regis College on Tuesday at 8:00p while Mitchell will next play at Daniel Webster College on Tuesday at 7:00p.