POULTNEY, Vt. - November 30 , 2016 - The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team dropped its North Atlantic Conference (NAC) opener at Green Mountain, 80-71, on Wednesday evening. 

The Chargers fall to 2-3 and will look to rebound on Saturday when they host Lyndon at 1 p.m.

The game was a see-saw affair for most of the night as witness to the 10 ties and 17 lead changes. 

Colby-Sawyer rolled out to an early 7-3 lead benefiting from some missed opportunities close in by the Eagles. By the 15:56 mark the hosts had battled back to square the game at 12-12 after Patrick Rittmon's second three of the game. The teams would battle back-and-forth for the remainder of the opening half with nine lead changes occurring until the Chargers closed the period by scoring five unanswered points to take a 39-37 lead into the break.

Such play continued throughout the first portion of the second half with the teams still deadlocked with 10:20 remaining and the score knotted at 55-55. Keenan Caron seemed to spark the visitors coming off the bench and hitting a big three-pointer. Jourdain Bell, the NAC's leading scorer, then put the Chargers up by five at 60-55 with 8:24 to go. The Eagles responded as Rittmon and Thomas Brown scored the next eleven points for the hosts to bring the team even again at 66-66 with 4:55 remaining. Kenneth Parker then scored five points for the Eagles to help salt away the game for Green Mountain.

Patrick Rittmon scored 23 points to lead the Eagles while Brown supplemented the offense with 19 points, four boards and six assists. Darius Wynn was keyed in from deep, hitting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc for a season-high 16 points. Pierce Weatherspoon had a solid all-around game with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists. Parker was the lead reserve, scoring five points while grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds and also adding two steals and two blocks.

Jourdain Bell once again led the Colby-Sawyer scorers with 22 points. He added eight rebounds and four assists. Freshman Dana Bean poured in 18 points and grabbed a team best 10 boards for the double-double. Patrick Coffey got the start at point guard and notched 10 points. 

Colby-Sawyer got to the free throw line 28 times but only made 16. Green Mountain went 14-for-22 from the charity stripe. 

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