CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Lesley University hit 53% from the floor and never trailed as they rolled past New England College 88-74 in a non-conference bout this afternoon at the Nicholas Athletics Center.
Lesley senior Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) and sophomore Xeo Golding (Windermere, Fla.) led four players in double-figures for the hosts with 22 apiece. Mayo finished 8-of-10 from the floor and added seven rebounds to his line on the afternoon.
The Lynx improve to 2-1 in the New Year and 8-4 overall with the win while the loss drops the Pilgrims to 9-3 on the season.
Lesley was hot from the get-go as they hit their first three shots – two of which came from beyond the arc – to build a quick 8-0 lead and force an NEC timeout just 2:20 into action. The timeout served the Pilgrims well as they came out and responded with a brief 7-2 spurt capped by a layup from sophomore Ricky Leonard (Windsor, Conn.) to cut the Lesley lead to three over the next three minutes of play.
That would be as close as NEC would get all afternoon, however, as Lynx senior Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) drained a trey from the top of the key to spark a 15-4 streak to open up a 25-11 lead with just under nine minutes to go in the first half.
Lesley would push their lead to 42-23 after an old-fashioned three-point play from Golding with 72-seconds left on the clock before NEC freshman Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) powered a 7-2 run for the visitors to close out the half trailing 44-30.
The Pilgrims dwindled the Lynx edge down to 11 points in the early-goings of the second half before the hosts responded with ferocious 17-5 run that expanded their lead to 25 points before rolling to the 88-74 victory.
St. Simon filled the stat sheet for the Lynx as he finished with 11 points, eight boards, four assists, three blocks, and one steal while junior Marquise Johnson (Hampton, Va.) added 11 points, seven rebounds, and four helpers. Sophomore Joey Martin (Melbourne, Fla.) scored eight to go with ten rebounds and a game-high six assists. Fellow sophomore Charlie Reznikoff (Wilton, Conn.) added six points and a pair of rebounds off the bench.
Leonard hit 4-of-6 from deep to power the Pilgrim offense with a team-high 18 points while Rogers poured in 13 in 22 minutes of reserve duty. Freshman Alonzo Cooper (Hyde Park, Mass.) finished with 12 points and six rebounds and sophomore Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass.) added eight points and seven boards.
The Lynx dominated down low and out-rebounded the Pilgrims 48-31 while also out-scoring them 48-24 in the paint. Lesley also got out on the run to hold a 15-2 edge on fastbreak points.
Lesley will face a quick turnaround and return to New England Collegiate Conference play tomorrow night when they host Wheelock College at 8:00p. NEC will next travel to Green Mountain College on Thursday evening for a 5:30p tip.