Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Seven players notched at least seven points as New England College pulled away from the University of New England in the second half to a 71-44 men's basketball victory as The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) season kicked off Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center.

Senior Joe Farragher (North Ridgeville, Ohio) scored 10 of his game-high 13 points in the initial period to lead the Pilgrims (11-1, 1-0 TCCC), while classmate Shane Hennessey (Plymouth, England) added 11 points. Both players posted seven rebounds, and the two combined to make 10 of 14 field goal attempts on the day.

First-year Michael Ingram-Rubin (Boston, Mass.) came off the bench for eight points on 3-of-5 shooting. As a team, NEC finished the contest shooting 56.5 percent (26-for-46) from the floor, and out-scored the hosts 34-12 in the paint.

The Nor'easters (2-11, 0-1 TCCC) received 10 points apiece from senior Chas Rentrope (Peoria, Ariz.) and junior Marcus Winn (Austin, Texas), and sophomore Jeff Duplisea (Wayne, Maine) added seven. Junior Ryan Knotek (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) corralled a match-best 10 caroms -- including six of his team's 15 offensive rebounds.

Winn opened the contest with a three-pointer, only to see the visitors respond with a 12-1 spurt in the next 4:26 and take a lead they would not relinquish. For other than two quick instances, the Nor'easters kept the deficit in single digits the rest of the first half and got as close as four points on three different occasions, before NEC stretched the cushion to nine (33-24) at intermission.

The Pilgrims began the second period with 13 of the first 17 points over eight minutes of action to push the lead to 18 (46-28). UNE cut the gap to 53-40 with 5:33 left to play, but NEC finished the game on an 18-4 run to pull away.

New England College returns home for a TCCC tilt against in-state foe Colby-Sawyer College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.). The Nor'easters are back in action the same day, traveling to Curry College for an 8 p.m. tip-off.


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