NEW LONDON — The Colby-Sawyer men’s basketball team fell to the North Atlantic Conference’s (NAC) first-place team, Husson University, 80-63, Saturday afternoon.
Husson improves to 16-5 overall and 12-2 to retain its spot atop the NAC standings. Colby-Sawyer drops to 13-7 overall and 10-4 in the NAC.
The Eagles held a 60-53 lead at 10:36 in the second half before Colby-Sawyer scored six-straight points on a pair of threes to pull within one (60-59) with 9:08 to go. Husson then held the Chargers to just two field goals for the rest of the game to outscore the home team 20-4 in that stretch and win, 80-63.
Junior Jourdain Bell (Manchester, N.H.) led Colby-Sawyer with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. In his first collegiate start, freshman Erik Olson (Dracut, Mass.) recorded 11 points and nine rebounds. Senior Taylor Grande (Bedford, N.H.) scored 12 points, which included three three-pointers. He now ranks 8th in career threes with 161, passing David Rosso ’10 who was in attendance at the game. Sophomore Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) chipped in a game best 11 rebounds to go with seven points and a pair of blocks. He is now tied for ninth in career blocks with 52.
The Chargers got out to an early 6-2 lead after making their first three shot attempts. Husson responded with a 7-0 run capped by a Bussey trey to take a 9-6 lead five minutes into the action. The Eagles’ lead got to seven (17-10) at 12:18, but Colby-Sawyer was able to stay close. Facing a deficit for much of the first half, the Chargers clawed back after a Taylor Grande three-pointer was the final bucket of the frame with 31 seconds left to give the home team a 38-37 lead at the break.
Colby-Sawyer shot 50 percent in the first half and had a 24-10 advantage in rebounding. The Eagles made six three-pointers to trail by one at the half.
A pair of Cole Thomas free throws to open the second half regained the lead for Husson. The Eagles then led 49-40 at 15:44, but Grande converted a four-point play and Bell added five points to pull Colby-Sawyer even less than a minute later. The teams then traded baskets to tie the game for the fourth time. A Justin Martin layup at 13:35 gave Husson a 53-51 lead, which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.
Each team made eight three-pointers and scored 26 points in the paint. Husson finished 46.9 percent from the floor, while Colby-Sawyer shot 35.7 percent.
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