BROOKLINE, Mass. – Lesley University senior guard Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, N.J.) paved the way to the first victory of the season for the Lynx with a 67-65 decision over Newbury College in the New England Collegiate Conference opener for both schools. Rosa led all players with a season-high 25 points for the visitors who improve to 1-4 (1-0 NECC) on the year. The Nighthawks fall to 1-6 (0-1 NECC) overall.
Rosa hit on five three-pointers and added four assists, three rebounds, and two steals to his line on the night. Fellow senior Nikalus Oliver (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) also came up big from the Lynx as he added a monstrous double-double of 17 points and a career-best 17 rebounds. Junior Corbin Polec (Okemos, Mich.) came off the bench to add ten points while sophomore Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) finished with seven points and a game-high five assists.
Newbury senior Mills Carrasco (Haverhill, Mass.) led the hosts with 21 points while junior Phil Beltran-Smith (Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with nine on the night. Senior Christian Sheridan (Chicago, Ill.) came off the bench to provide six points and seven rebounds and freshman Jeremiah Ephraim (Norwood, Mass.) score eight in a reserve role.
Newbury center Cameron Owen (Concord, N.H.) connected with junior guard Beltran-Smith from long range to give the Nighthawks the quick, 3-0 lead. However, junior guard Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) answered with a trey of his own to ignite a 9-0 Lynx run. Newbury battled their way back with a mini 7-0 run to take a 10-9 lead - their first and only lead of the half.
Midway through the half, Blanchard knocked down his second three-pointer of the game to give the Lynx the 16-10 advantage as they started to build their largest lead of the half - nine points – late into the period. With 1:04 on the clock in the opening half, Carrasco knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game at 32-32, but a Polec triple followed by two Oliver free throws gave the Lynx a 37-35 edge at the break.
Oliver scored eight straight points for the Lynx coming out of the locker rooms as the guests opened second half play with an 8-2 run. Lesley would continue to separate themselves and a Rosa trey gave the Lynx their biggest lead of the night at 55-42 with 10:33 remaining in the half.
But Newbury was not going away quietly. With just under four minutes to go, Newbury sophomore Ceejae Carter (Dorchester, Mass.) found Carrasco for three to cut the lead back down to 10 points, 67-57. After an Ephraim lay-up, Nighthawks senior David Hart (Keene, N.H.) buried a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game at 67-61.
The Lynx did not help themselves in the final minute of action as they missed three straight free throws while in the bonus, allowing the Nighthawks to pull within two following consecutive layups by Sheridan. With possession of the ball, Newbury called timeout with just three-seconds left on the clock, but Lesley's defense came up big forcing a turnover to as they hung on for the 67-65 victory.
The Lynx knocked down nine from beyond the arc and shot a season-high 47-percent from the floor in the win. The triumph is the first career win for first-year head coach Chris Giordano.
The Lynx will break from conference action when they return to the floor on Saturday, December 13th when they play host Gordon College at 5:00p. The Nighthawks will continue NECC play on Saturday, December 6th as they welcome at Hawks of Becker College at 2:00p.