HENNIKER, N.H.— February, 24, 2018 - The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team was defeated by New England College, 72-56, in Saturday's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship in front of a capacity crowd at Bridges Gym.

With the win, the Pilgrims (21-6) will advance to the program's first NCAA Tournament. Colby-Sawyer sees its season come to a close at 18-9.

The Pilgrims were led by Ricky Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) with a game-high 20 points. Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass.) chipped in with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Calvin Cheek (Mattapan, Mass.) finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals.

The Chargers received 14 points from Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) and 10 points from Erik Olson (Dracut, Mass.) off the bench.

The Pilgrims controlled the scoreboard from the first possession and quickly built a 10-point lead, 14-4, in just over five minutes of action. The Chargers used the next four minutes to cut the deficit to four points, 15-11 with 11:08 left in the half, but NEC pulled away again to lead 23-11 with 7:55 to go. The Pilgrims were up by 13 points, 36-23, at halftime.

The Pilgrims nearly doubled-up the Chargers in first-half shooting efficiency, hitting 14-of-33 (42.4 percent) while holding Colby-Sawyer to eight field goals on 27 shots (29.6 percent).

Colby-Sawyer came within six points four minutes into the second half but that proved to be the tipping point for NEC, who used a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 46-33 lead. NEC would extend its lead, which ballooned to 29, with the final media timeout looming. The Chargers were able to make a few late shots, but NEC secured the championship with the 72-56 victory.

NEC shot better from the floor in the second half, hitting 14-of-29 for a 48.3 percent efficiency. The Chargers shot 9-for-24 in the second half.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM 
Eric Berry – Umaine Farmington 
DJ Bussey, Husson 
Jourdain Bell, Colby-Sawyer
Jason Jones, New England College 
Dana Bean, Colby-Sawyer 
Calvin Cheek, New England College 
Tournament MVP: Ricky Leonard, New England College

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