Haverhill, MA (January 12, 2023) – The Northern Essex Community College men's basketball team ranked seventh in this weeks NJCAA national poll opened the seasons second half on Thursday night in convincing fashion with a 109-52 victory over the Pointers of UConn-Avery Point. The win was the 11th in a row for NECC as they improve to 15-1 overall and 10-0 in conference play.
Making his first career start Darlin Santiago (Salem, MA) scored a career high and game high 26 points aided by seven of 11 shooting from behind the three-point arc.
The Knights never trailed and opened up a 25-point lead at the midway point of the first half. All 13 players who suited up for the Knights recorded at least one basket in the game.
A quartet joined Santiago in double figures led by Ashton Ventola (Danville, NH) with 14 points. Luke O'Donnell (Hamilton, MA), Jeremiah Melendez (Lawrence) and Luis Reynoso (Lawrence) added 12, 11 and 10 points respectively.
NECC will look for their 12th straight win on Saturday when they travel to New Haven, CT to take on Gateway Community College. Opening tip is set for 1:00pm at Wexler Grant School.