BIDDEFORD, Maine – February 28, 2009 – The University of New England men's basketball team won the 2008-2009 TCCC Championship on their home floor, Saturday evening. The Nor'easters came away with a 90–79 victory behind hot shooting from three-point land. The Chargers fall to 20-7 overall, while UNE goes to 24-4.
In a hotly contested first half, before a sellout crowd at the University of New England Campus Center, each team held a lead of no more than four points throughout the first 20 minutes. Each time a team thought they could build a safe cushion, an opposing guard would knock down a trey to get their team back in the game. The first stanza featured seven lead changes and 16 ties.
Colby-Sawyer freshman Will Bardaglio (Wayne, Maine) led all scorers in the first half with 14 points including 4-5 from beyond the three-point line. The Chargers were able to take a one-point lead into the locker-room on a Ryan Murray (Killingworth, Conn.) free throw. Nor'easters' senior Steve Belmonte (Levittown, N.Y.) made multiple three-pointers that gave UNE momentum. He finished the first half with a team-high 13 points on 4-5 shooting.
Colby-Sawyer senior Duncan Szeliga (Newmarket, N.H.) scored five of the last eight points for the Chargers heading to the break. He finished the half with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. UNE senior Jaykyri Simpson (East Cleburne, Texas) had a solid first 20 minutes with nine points and six rebounds. Both teams shot better than 53% from the floor, while UNE held a 17-13 advantage on the glass.
Trailing by one (49-48) at the half, the Nor'easters started the second frame with a 16-5 run over the opening 6:12 to establish a 65-55 lead. After scoring just two points in the first half, Johnnie Jefferson (Dallas, Texas) scored half of UNE's 16 points during the spurt.
The two teams went back-and-forth over the next eight minutes, and the Nor'easters still held a double-digit advantage (74-64) with 6:11 left.
Colby-Sawyer chipped away and was able to cut its deficit to five on three separate occasions - the last coming on two free throws by senior Andrew Cousins (South Portland, Maine) with 2:56 remaining.
On the Nor'easters' next possession, junior guard Marchale Robinson (Baton Rouge, La.) buried a three from the right corner just before the shot clock expired to push the lead to eight (81-73).
Junior Jon Chaloux (Barre, Vt.) made 1 of 2 at the line for Colby-Sawyer before Simpson knocked down a pair at the line for an 83-74 cushion. A long 3-pointer by Chaloux got the Chargers back within six (83-77) at the 1:15 mark.
After a timeout, Jefferson threw a long in-bounds pass to Simpson streaking down the right side, which Simpson collected and layed-in while being fouled. He subsequently missed the free throw, but the layup with 1:10 remaining gave UNE an 85-77 lead and effectively put the game out of reach.
The Nor'easters made 5 of 6 at the charity stripe in the final 55 seconds to seal the win.
Thompson finished with a game-high 20 points to go with seven seven rebounds for UNE. Jefferson had 16 of his 18 points after halftime, including four 3-pointers. The first team all-conference selection made a pair of critical shots to beat the shot clock in the second half.
Belmonte also played a strong game for the winners, knocking down four treys to finish with 16 points along with seven assists. Simpson contributed 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
Szeliga led five Colby-Sawyer players in double figures with 18 points. He also collared a game-best 10 boards and dished out six assists. With 18 points, Szeliga moves into eighth place on the Colby-Sawyer all-time career scoring list with 1304. Chaloux scored 15 points and senior point guard Matt Lemieux (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in 13 points and six assists for the Chargers, while Cousins added 10 points.
The Nor'easters shot 52.6 percent (30 of 57) for the game and made half (13 of 26) of their shots from beyond the arc.
