Lyndonville, VT - The Lyndon State College men's basketball team dropped its season finale to New England College, 114-83, on Saturday afternoon.  The Hornets finish 2-22 overall and 2-16 in North Atlantic Conference play.  NEC improves to 19-6 on the season and 14-3 in conference.  With the win the Pilgrims also clinched the NAC regular season championship and the #1 seed in next week's conference tournament.

Prior to tip-off, Lyndon seniors Zach Knowlton (Franconia, NH), Kendrick Mills (Rutland, VT), Robbie Rouelle (St. Johnsbury, VT), and Darren Williams Jr. (Wiesbaden, Germany) were recognized.  Mills went on to top five double figure scorers for the Hornets, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds.  Williams totaled 17 points and sophomore guard Neal Mulligan (Marshfield, VT) added a career high 13 points, going four for four from behind the three-point arc.  Sophomore Jahleel Gabriel (Springfield, MA) posted 11 points and handed out a team high four assists and freshman Ricky Shuford (Prattville, AL) also reached double figures with 10 points.

Junior Ricky Leonard (Windsor, CT) led NEC with a game high 36 points, connecting on 14 of 17 shots, including six of eight from distance.  He also recorded a game high six steals.  Freshman Calvin Cheek (Mattapan, MA) posted a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds while also coming up with five steals.  Fellow freshman Kareem Octavien (Cambridge, MA) connected on five of six shots and finished with 13 points, while sophomore Izaiah Winston-Brooks (Roxbury, MA) added 12 points.

The Pilgrims shot the ball very well throughout, connecting on 45 of 79 shots (57%), including 17 of 29 (58.6%) from behind the arc.  The Hornets made 28 of their 65 attempts (43.1%), including 15 of 34 from distance (44.1%).  NEC owned a 45-36 rebounding advantage and forced 26 Hornet turnovers which led to 32 Pilgrim points.  The Pilgrims also recorded 29 assists and 18 steals, while the Hornets had 17 asists.