BENNINGTON, Vt. – There was a playoff feel in the Mountaineer Athletic Center Thursday night as the Southern Vermont College men's basketball team played to a tough 89-82 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) victory over Daniel Webster College.
SVC was able to open it up for a 47-32 lead at halftime and increased its separation to 20 midway through the second period. The Eagles came back to make it a six-point game with two minutes left to go, but Southern Vermont sealed the win to get back to .500 in league play.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday with Conference contests, Southern Vermont (4-9, 2-2 NECC) visiting Wheelock College for a 12 p.m. tip-off while the Eagles (8-4, 2-1 NECC) host Newbury College at 1 p.m.
A pair of Mountaineers tallied the team-high of 18 points, junior Mike Pierre (Melrose, N.Y.) and sophomore Josh Borders (Miami, Fla.) both reaching that mark; Pierre also notched five assists, three boards and two steals while Borders went 10-for-11 from the charity stripe and added six rebounds to his line.
SVC senior Ervin Cook (Germantown, Md.) had 14 points in 14 minutes off the bench, and classmate Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) chalked up 12 points in the win. Fellow senior Nate Goldmith (Capitol Heights, Md.) registered nine points and a team-best seven rebounds while junior Claude Payne (South Plainfield, N.J.) tallied nine points and six boards on the night.
Daniel Webster junior Marquise Caudill (Windsor, Conn.) dropped a game-high 21 points to go with his four rebounds as junior Jaquan Harrison (Windsor, Conn.) came off the pine to notch a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Senior Ray Farmer (Nashua, N.H.) grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds while scoring nine points, and classmate Angelo Adon (Silver Spring, Md.) recorded 11 points in 22 minutes of reserve time.
Both teams were pretty efficient from the floor, Southern Vermont shooting 46.2 percent (24-52) while the Eagles went 28-for-62 (45.2 percent). DWC had a slim 36-34 edge in rebounding as SVC outscored the visitors 27-15 in points off turnovers.
Tensions were high before the tip and carried throughout the night. Pierre drained a three to put his team on top early into the tilt, but Caudill scored four straight for DWC to regain the lead. That would be the Eagles' last upper hand of the evening, however, as Southern Vermont took an advantage it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way. Goldsmith completed an old-fashioned three-point play, sparking a 12-0 run that finished with Borders kicking it out to the top of the arc where Cook knocked down a triple. Daniel Webster kept it from getting out of hand with seven unanswered— Caudill scoring five during that stretch.
The Mountaineers slowly pushed it back to a double-digit lead at 23-13 with efficiency from the free throw line, and two more freebies by Pierre then increased the separation to 12. Once again, Daniel Webster came back to stay in it, the Eagles scoring nine straight with threes by Adon and sophomore Tommy Organ (Moorestown, N.J.). Borders answered with a trey of his own on the next possession, and Pierre and Taylor each connected from long range for a 37-30 upper hand. SVC continued to pad its cushion late in the frame, closing out the final three minutes of the half on a 10-2 run to make it a 47-32 lead going into the locker room.
Goldsmith finished another and-one play early in the second stanza before Taylor swished home a three from the right side for a 19-point difference. Southern Vermont maintained its sizable advantage as the teams went back-and-forth going into the final stretch. Daniel Webster was able to close its deficit down to 11 with just a few minutes left to go, but Borders went 4-for-4 from the stripe in 18 seconds' time to bump it back up to 16.
DWC was able to utilize a Mountaineer miss and then an SVC turnover to score eight unanswered points in the final minute, cutting it down to an 87-79 lead. Eagle senior Alex Cruz (Hartford, Conn.) would then get an offensive rebound and put it back while drawing the foul, hitting his free throw to make it just an 88-82 Southern Vermont edge with nine ticks left. The hosts were able to avoid the quick foul and run time off the clock, however, as they finished off their seventh-straight win over their NECC rival.
– #LetsGoSVC –