Men’s Basketball Caps Regular Season in 91-66 Win at Mitchell

NEW LONDON, Conn.  – The Rivier men's basketball team earned its fourth consecutive win to close out Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 91-66 road victory over Mitchell on Tuesday evening at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

With the win, the Raiders finished the season at 14-11 (7-7 GNAC), securing back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in program history.

Meanwhile, the Mariners dropped to 14-9 (6-6 GNAC) with two games remaining in their regular season.

Junior Matt Constant and graduate student Joey Merrill opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers as the Raiders found themselves trailing 8-6 with 16:40 remaining in the first half. Merrill followed with an and-one layup, and graduate student Kyler Bosse added to the three-point surge, giving the Raiders their first lead at 12-10. The teams continued exchanging baskets, with the Mariners briefly reclaiming the lead at 21-20 midway through the frame. Senior Cheikh Gueye put the Raiders back in front with a layup, but Mitchell responded with a quick three-pointer to make it 24-22. First-year Steph Barnes and Bosse converted consecutive layups to tie the game at 26 with 6:28 left in the half. Rivier then closed the period with a 19-9 run, fueled by three three-pointers from Constant and contributions from five different scorers to secure a 45-35 advantage at the break.

Constant opened the second half with three consecutive three-pointers, pushing the lead to 54-39 and forcing a Mariner timeout. Mitchell cut the deficit to 10, but back-to-back layups from senior Odarius Cade and graduate student Ra'Quan Groves extended the Raiders' lead to 62-48 with 10:28 remaining. Rivier then went on a sustained 17-10 run, widening the gap to 79-58 at the 3:50 mark. Cade sealed the game with a nine-point surge, to help the Raiders cruise to a 91-66 victory.

Constant knocked down eight three-pointers, shooting 9-of-17 (52.9%) overall and an impressive 8-of-13 (61.5%) from beyond the arc, on his way to a 28-point performance while also securing five rebounds. Bosse followed with 20 points on 8-of-15 (53.3%) shooting, adding three rebounds. Merrill contributed 13 points on 5-of-10 (50%) shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.  Cade added 11 points on 5-of-8 (62.5%) shooting while tallying two steals. Groves chipped in 10 points and five rebounds, while Baguidy led the team with seven assists and pulled down six rebounds.

The Raiders shot an efficient 57.1% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range and held Mitchell to just 31.2% overall and 22.2% from beyond the arc. Rivier also dished out 19 assists compared to the Mariners' seven. The Raiders held advantages in points in the paint (44-20), fast break points (18-2), and bench points (26-21).

The Raiders now await the conclusion of the GNAC regular season for their postseason tournament seeding.