Leicester, Mass. - Sophomore guard Rajai Leggett (New Haven,
Conn.) netted 10 point, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, had 3
blocks, 3 steals and 4 assists and sophomore center Trey Jacobs
(Lexington Park, MD) dropped in a game-high 20 points and fourth
seeded Becker College used a clutch run early in the second half to
pull away to a 89-73 win over seventh seeded Rivier College in the
championship game of the ECAC Division III New England Men's
Basketball Tournament.
Becker College extending their school record for NCAA wins,
finished the season at 22-8, the Hawks are just two seasons removed
from a 3-22 record. The Raiders completed their season at 16-13.
Leggett, who was named tournament Most Outstanding Player, led
the Hawks to a 9-0 opening run with two layups. After a Raiders
timeout, junior forward Luke Brownell (Hubbardston, Mass.) broke
the drought with a jumper at 15:55. The teams traded baskets and
Becker had the biggest lead of the half at 13 points after two free
throws from Travis Suber (Springfield, Mass.) at the ten minute
mark to make it 24-11.
From there the Raiders erupted for a 19-8 run over the next 7:42
to take their only lead of the game at 33-32. Freshman forward
Mark Williams (Malden, Mass.) converted a 3 point
play, senior forward Felipe Lima (Nashua, NH) and
freshman guard Joe Granato (Arlington, Mass.) both
chipped in 5 points to help key the run.
Sophomore guard DeJohn Exum (New London, Conn.) put the Hawks on
his back over the last two minutes of the half scoring 9 points
going 3 for 4 from behind the three point arc to give Becker a
44-40 lead heading into the locker room.
Leggett, opened up the second half just like the first, scoring the
first six points of the half. The Hawks build their lead to ten
points, 50-40 and never looked back. They shot 60% (15 for 25) in
the second half while limiting the Raiders to just 30% (9 for 30).
For the game the Hawks connected on 7 of 16 (44%) from 3-point
range while Rivier hit just 7 of 24 (29%). Raiders center
DJ Poitras (Bow, NH) and Lima both finished with a
team-high 13 points. Williams led the team with 7 rebounds.
