NEW LONDON, N.H. – November 28, 2016 – Sophomore Jourdain Bell (Manchester, N.H.) scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Colby-Sawyer College men's basketball team to a 90-82 victory over Plymouth State in Monday's home opener.

Colby-Sawyer evens its record to 2-2 and will begin North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play on Wednesday at Green Mountain with a 5:30 p.m. tip. Plymouth State also goes to 2-2 and will continue of four-game road trip with a 5:30 p.m. game at Lyndon on Thursday.

Colby-Sawyer's Bell led all players with 33 points and 10 rebounds. He went 10-for-12 from the free throw line and added four assists and four steals. Sophomore Milani Hicks (Scarborough, Maine) was 7-of-11 from the floor and made 9-of-11 free throws to finish with 25 points. Sophomore Nate Cook (Burlington, Conn.) was the third Charger to reach double figures with 12 points. He added eight boards.

Plymouth State was led by senior Jack Preston's (Nashua, N.H.) 23 points in 24 minutes off the bench. Freshman guard Jaylen Leroy (Manchester, N.H.) added 16 points and four assists off the bench, while junior Brian Boulay (Keene, N.H.) chipped in 11 points as a reserve.

The game was scoreless for the first two minutes as each team tried to find an offensive flow. Jourdain Bell connected on a pair of free throws for the first two points of the contest before Plymouth broke its scoring drought 2:35 into the game with a layup from Curtis Arsenault (Berlin, N.H.).

The Chargers found the rhythm over the next several minutes and went on a 19-2 run to take a 21-5 lead with 12:26 left in the frame. Plymouth slowly chipped away and eventually brought the game within a bucket in the waning moments of the half after Jaylen Leroy hit all three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc. Bell ended the half the way it began with a pair of freebies at the charity stripe to send Colby-Sawyer into the locker room in front 42-38 at the break.

The second half began with both teams exchanging hoops before Colby-Sawyer went in front by nine at 12:19 after a pair of Nate Cook free throws. The Panthers used a 9-2 run capped by two free throws from Preston to cut the deficit to three (74-71) with 4:57, but that would be as close as they would get. Colby-Sawyer knocked in all eight free throw attempts down the stretch and added a fast-break dunk by freshman Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) to secure the 90-82 victory for the home team.

Colby-Sawyer finished 27-of-33 from the free throw line, while Plymouth State was 19-for-30. 

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