The men’s basketball team came up short in the semifinals of the NECC tournament last week against the Mitchell College Mariners. The entire game was a close, back-and-forth fight, but it ended at a score of 95-94 in favor of Mitchell College.
The Pilgrims came out hot from the start and developed a 10-4 lead that consisted of one score from each NEC starter. It was a pretty even game throughout the first half with both teams trading scores until Junior Mikey Buscetto hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left in the half, putting Mitchell up by five points with a score of 48-43.
NEC Senior Calvin Cheek responded at the start of the second half, making a three-pointer of his own. With 18 minutes remaining in the second half, Senior Kareem Octavian made a layup that gave the Pilgrims a 53-52 lead. The Pilgrims kept this lead until there was 11 minutes left in the game.
Later on in the second half, the score was tied at 69-69 until Buscetto made another three-pointer, putting the Mariners in the lead with a score of 72-69. With 20 seconds left in the game, Junior Michael Tavilla scores a three-pointer, putting the Pilgrims up by one. Mitchell, however, ended up drawing a shooting foul on their next possession, making both free throws and winning the game.
“We fought hard, and we had a good opportunity to win with Mike making that three-pointer in the corner that put us up by one at the end,” said NEC Sophomore Alex Jean. “We left it all out there.”
