CAMBRIDGE, MA – Thinking upset against first-place Becker, Lesley had the right idea through 18 minutes, but the Hawks took off at the end of the first half and soared through the second in a 86-70 victory at Lesley in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball play.
Becker (19-3, 11-0 NECC) center Trae Jacobs (Lexington Park, MD/Great Mills) scored 14 of his game-high 20 before halftime, hitting on 8-11 shots from the field in leading five Hawks in double-figures. Freshman guard Tyler Roberson (Irvington, NJ/St. Mary') followed with 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench, as the Hawks turned a five-point late first half lead into a 12-point halftime margin and coasted through the second.
For Lesley (5-17 2-10), junior John Sanchez (Carson, CA/Saint John Bosco) led the way with 19 points, while senior forward Harold Smith (Florence, AZ/Florence) turned in his finest performance of the season, posting a double-double of 14 points and a career- and game-high 12 rebounds in only 19 minutes.
Jacobs and Rajai Leggett (New Haven, CT/Sheehan) combined on a 7-0 run that turned a tie game into an 11-4 Hawks lead inside the 16:00 mark, and back-to-back Jacobs layups extended the lead to 24-14 with 11:00 left.
A Jesus Trejo (Methuen, MA/Methuen) layup following a pair of Sanchez free throws cut the margin to five, 40-35, at the 2:00 mark of the half. Becker then embarked on a 10-3 run featuring a three-point play and a three-pointer from Roberson, to close the frame leading 50-38.
The Hawks shot 54 percent for the half, holding Lesley to just 38 percent shooting.
Becker came out even hotter in the second, with Jacobs and Leggett this time orchestrated a 10-0 run starting at the 18:00 mark capped by a Terrence Favors (Boston, MA/Bedford) layup, turning a 54-42 contest into an overwhelming lead. A Smith layup with 14:45 remaining would be the only time Lesley cut the margin under 20 until the final two minutes, as the Hawks improved to 11-0 in NECC play.
For the Lynx, Trejo totaled 10 points and six rebounds, while Thorton Paul (Boston, MA/West Roxbury) threw in 11 points on 5-11 shooting.
Lesley returns to play on Tuesday at Mitchell, while Becker plays host to Southern Vermont on Saturday at 1 p.m.
