The New England College Men’s Basketball team took to the court on senior night against Albertus Magnus College. The Pilgrims gave it their all throughout the entire game and didn’t go down without a fight, eventually coming up short and ending the season on a record of 4-21.
The first half of the game saw Albertus get the ball first as NEC played defense. About a minute and a half into the game, Albertus scored their first two points and another point during a foul shot. NEC played a successful defense for another minute and a half before Albertus scored five more points.
It wasn’t until two minutes into the game when NEC would score their first points. For every point NEC scored, Albertus scored. Both teams played very intensely, both showing a great amount of teamwork throughout the entire game. The first half ended with a score of 30 to 44, with NEC falling behind.
The second half played a lot like the first half. Despite NEC being down by about ten points, they refused to falter and showed drive and passion for the sport. The game ended in Albertus Magnus College winning with 95 points and NEC losing with 65 points.
Despite the loss, the Pilgrims still held their high and smiled on the future of the team and its players.
When asked about the season and how the team played, Coach Charlie Mason explained that they have gotten better as the season progressed in terms of teamwork and hard work.
“We’d like to have had more wins, but I think our guys stuck together,” Coach Mason said.
This sentiment was echoed by senior Alex Williams: “It just felt good getting better with these guys.”
When asked about the stand outs this season, Coach Mason went on to talk about how terrific the seniors have been this season.
“Alex [Williams] has been here four years, he’s been terrific. He’s not only a terrific player, but a terrific teammate and terrific leader. Nick [Gomeau] is in his fifth year, the last two years he played as a graduate student,” Coach Mason said.
When asked about what’s next for them, Gomeau said, “to keep grinding.”
Williams is looking to the future. “[I’m] hopefully looking to get a master’s and keep playing somewhere. I’m figuring it out day by day for sure,” he said.
Coach Mason continued to sing the praises of other players like Ashton Ventola, who Coach Mason described as the most positive person on campus, and Theisen Lee, who transferred in as a senior.
Coach Mason voiced his pride in the team on the grit they showed not just during senior night, but throughout the entire season.
“Lots of resilience for some setbacks, but it didn’t affect the way we looked at each other and we played together,” Coach Mason said.
