HENNIKER, N.H. – The Husson University men's basketball team is off to its best start since the 2017-18 season, as the team improved to 4-0 on the young season thanks to an 81-60 rout of New England College on Monday evening in non-conference action.
NEC (1-4) was able to hang around with Husson (4-0) for the majority of the first half, as the Eagles were only able to open up a lead as large as eight throughout the first 15 minutes of play. That changed for the remaining part of the opening half, as senior Jeremy Moronta took over the final part of the half, as he led Husson on a 7-3 spurt over the final 1:37 to allow the Eagles to take a 41-34 edge into the halftime break.
Moronta was on fire for the entirety of the opening frame, tallying 17 points on 6-9 shooting, including 3-3 from beyond the arc. Senior Jared Balser was perfect from the field in the first half, shooting 3-3 for a total of six points, while graduate student Derek Collin was the only other Eagle to tally more than one made field-goal, as he recorded four points and six rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
Husson shot just under 50% as a team during the first half, including nailing five of its 14 three-point attempts. The Eagles also won the first half rebounding battle 22-15 and recorded 13 assists on their 17 made field goals.
After the Pilgrims cut the Husson lead down to seven with 17:38 to play, the Eagles countered and effectively put the game away with a 14-3 run over a nearly five minute stretch to get their advantage back up to 61-43. It was smooth sailing for the remaining 12-plus minutes for Husson, as the lead climbed to as much as 24 and the Eagles would cruise to their second road win of the season.
Moronta finished the night as the leading scorer for Husson, as he recorded 19. The reigning North Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week was also on triple-double watch for the second-consecutive game as he ripped down eight rebounds and dished out a team-high seven assists. Junior Riles Neff, who was saddled with foul trouble during the first half, turned it on in the final 20 minutes of play, tallying 15 of his 17 points during the second half, in addition to recording eight rebounds and handing out five assists.
Ten other Eagles found the scoring column throughout the course of the game, including freshman Andre McCauley scoring seven, and Collin, Balser, senior Scott Lewis and sophomore Ty Henke each pouring in six.
Husson concluded the evening shooting at just under a 44% clip, including better than 35% from three-point range, in addition to holding a 49-40 edge on the glass and forcing NEC into 19 turnovers.
The Eagles will be off throughout the remainder of the week for Thanksgiving break, before returning to the court at Newman Gymnasium for a matchup against Bates College on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Tip-off for this non-conference contest is set for 5:30 p.m.
