Mitchell Men Fall to Daniel Webster in Conference Opener

 NEW LONDON, CONN. -  Daniel Webster College defeated Mitchell, 80-76, in the conference opener for both teams this afternoon.  The Eagles were led to victory by Brian Inge (Fort Washington, Md.) and Chris Hanson (Salem, Mass.) who scored 25 and 24 points respectively.  In the loss for the Mariners, Eric Murray (Bridgeport, Conn.) put up big numbers with 34 points and 14 rebounds.

The visiting Eagles jumped out to an early eight point lead, but the Mariners fought back and tied the game at 17 with 9:52 remaining in the first half.  Inge helped Daniel Webster regain the lead with a three pointer and a lay-up in the middle of a 9-0 run with 5:00 left in the half.  Jenel Russell (East Hampton, N.Y.) scored five of his 17 points to close out the first half with the Mariners trailing 38-34.

The second half was a back and forth battle which saw the game tied seven different times.  Daniel Webster was able to hold off Mitchell with solid free throw shooting down the stretch.  In the last two minutes of the game, the Eagles connected on 8-for-10 attempts from the charity stripe to secure the win.

For Mitchell, Russell had a big game in the paint with 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Mike DePaolo (Asbury, N.J.) added 12 points.  Mitchell out-rebounded the visitors by a 45-28 margin in the loss.

The loss puts Mitchell at 4-5 overall and 0-1 in the NECC, while Daniel Webster improves to 7-4 overall and 1-0 in the NECC.  The Mariners are back in action on Tuesday, January 13 when they travel to Southern Vermont.