NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team came away with a 93-87 non-conference victory over Rhode Island College on Monday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.
The Mariners led for most of the second half but had to regroup when the Anchormen pulled ahead with 3:25 to go. Ahmani Browne and Mikey Buscetto hit key shots down the stretch as Mitchell regained the lead and held on to improve to 13-10 overall.
Alfonzo Stokes led Mitchell with 23 points and added seven rebounds and four assists. Jalen Benson notched a double-double with 17 points and a career-high 13 assists, and Browne finished with a career-high 15 points with five boards and two assists. Jacob Tully came off the bench to contribute 14 points, and Buscetto handed out nine assists to go with nine points.
Shion Darby netted a game-high 32 points to pace the Anchormen (13-10 overall) and also chipped in six rebounds. Keyshaun Jacobs made five three-pointers and finished with 24 points while Jordan Riley supplied a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Mitchell got off to a good start, scoring six straight points to open the game and forcing a RIC timeout. The Mariners eventually buffered the margin to 10 less than five minutes into the contest before the visitors recovered. The Anchormen responded with 14 unanswered points—11 of which came from Jacobs—to take an 18-14 lead at the 12:15 mark.
The two sides slugged it out for the rest of the half, though each in their own distinctive manner. Mitchell moved the ball well and beat the RIC press to get a lot of easy looks, finishing the half with 13 assists on 19 field goals. Jacobs did the heavy lifting for the Anchormen, hitting all five of his threes in the stanza and scoring 19 of his team's 38 points.
Mitchell led 41-38 at the break and continued to share the ball in the second half. The Mariners never pushed the margin to double digits, but back-to-back buckets from Tully and Benson provided their biggest lead of the half at 79-70 with 6:26 to play.
Riley provided the spark that ignited RIC's late charge. The Anchormen came storming back to take the lead with a 10-0 burst, with Riley providing three buckets, three steals, two rebounds, a block and an assist during the two-minute stretch.
With just over two minutes to go, Mitchell trailed by one when Browne exploded to the basket from the high post and made a layup while being fouled. The ensuing free throw put the Mariners on top 85-83.
After a three-point play by Darby gave the lead back to the Anchormen, Buscetto drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to put Mitchell on top for good. On the Mariners' next possession, Browne made another layup to extend the margin to four, and with 25 seconds left he drained two free throws to pad the lead to 92-86.
The Mariners shot 56 percent for the game but lost the battle on the glass (52-40). RIC's 27 offensive rebounds led to a 24-11 advantage in second-chance points.
Mitchell will next play at Eastern Nazarene College on Wednesday, February 16 at 7 p.m.