Men's Basketball opens the season with annual "Midnight Madness" Game

(Nashua, N.H.) The Fourth Annual "Midnight Madness" game kicked off the 2015-16 seasons for both the Rivier University and Daniel Webster College Men's Basketball teams this morning with the visiting Eagles soaring away late with a 76-66 final. The Eagles (1-0 overall) evened up the Midnight series with the win at two apiece over the first four years of the inter-city, non-conference contest.

The game was played in front of a sellout crown inside the jam packed Muldoon Gymnasium – estimated attendance was roughly 450 or so that watched a very competitive ball game.

Rivier (0-1) was paced by sophomore Andre Ruff (Chicago, Ill.) who had 21 points and five rebounds. Junior Vic Davila (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) made an impressive debut for the blue and white as he finished with 12 points. Senior Anthony Simmons (Stamford, Conn.) and junior Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.) contributed with solid efforts as they registered 8 and 7 points, respectively. Freshman Isaiah Ruffen (Haverhill, Mass.) added an additional 9 points in his collegiate debut for the Raiders.

On the other side, Daniel Webster sophomore Antwaun Boyd (Stamford, Conn.) led all scorers with 26 points with junior Ray Farmer (Nashua, N.H.) collecting a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Jared Harrington (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and junior Rondell Best (Brockton, Mass.) each added 10 points, respectively, to account for the double-digit scorers this morning.

Both programs will enjoy the rest of the season opening weekend off as their next contests will be later this week. Rivier will square off against Plymouth State University in the annual Boys and Girls Club Classic hosted by NHTI on Tuesday night – 8pm start. Daniel Webster will hit the floor as they open up the Mario Vagge Gymnasium with a Thursday night, 7pm contest against Nichols College.