BENNINGTON, Vt. – Southern Vermont College pulled away from Newbury College Wednesday night to chalk up an 83-66 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball victory at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.

SVC went into the break on top 33-26 and had its lead cut to five early into the second half. The Mountaineers would slowly increase the separation through the final 17 minutes, however, to earn a season split with the Nighthawks.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday with Southern Vermont (14-6, 8-4 NECC) visiting Becker College for a 3 p.m. start while Newbury (6-12, 3-8 NECC) hosts Dean College for a 1 p.m. tip-off.

Mountaineer senior Josh Borders (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led all players with 24 points, and he also had six rebounds and four assists in the win. Classmate Andre Hodo (Silver Spring, Md.) had 12 points to go along with his game-high 10 boards while sophomore Donnell Frayer Jr. (Upper Marlboro, Md.) had 15 points and five rebounds. Senior Aaron Murray (Camden, N.J.) narrowly missed the double-double with 10 points and nine caroms for SVC.

NC was paced by senior Omar Williams (Queens, N.Y.) who had 17 points as classmate Tank Roberson (Pittsfield, Mass.) followed with 14 of his own. Sophomore Tim Deng (Portland, Maine) registered 11 points while senior Pierce Weatherspoon (Hartford, Conn.) had 10 points and six rebounds.

Southern Vermont went 30-61 (49.2 percent) from the floor while Newbury hit 25-60 (41.7 percent) of its field goal attempts. The Mountaineers pulled down a 41-31 advantage in rebounds and outscored NC 23-14 in points off turnovers.

Down 14-13 midway through the first half, a Borders triple sparked a 10-0 run which accounted for the last lead change of the night. Williams then went 4-4 from the line late in the half to help the Nighthawks score six unanswered points and chip away at their deficit—going into the locker room down by just seven.

A Weatherspoon trey in the opening minutes of the second stanza made it a 36-31 game, but that would be the closest Newbury could get the rest of the night. Frayer Jr. answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, and baskets then went back-and-forth before SVC went on a 9-1 run aided by six Borders points. The Mountaineers later rallied for nine-straight points late in the game for their biggest lead of the evening (77-54), and the rest was smooth sailing for the hosts.

– #LetsGoSVC –