Herkimer, NY (March 13, 2025) – The Northern Essex Community College men's basketball team finished the 2024-25 campaign with a win over Dallas-Mountain View College on Thursday morning by a 107-99 final score and in the process finished the season with a 29-4 overall record and 9th place national tournament finish in the 12-team tournament.
The Knights got off to a slow start and trailed by 13 points at halftime, 55-42, but relied on their deep bench and high pressure defense to rally past the Lions in the second half. NECC outscored the oppositions by a 21 point margin in the second half and took an 84-83 lead they wouldn't relinquish with 7:51 remaining on a layup from Alex Johnson (Worcester).
Xavier Rivera (Lowell) had a career game off the bench for the Knights as he scored a career high 25 points off the bench on 11-14 shooting, while also grabbing nine rebounds.
Four other Knights joined Rivera in double figures, led by Alejandro Delgado (Haverhill) with 19 points, Johnson tossed in 15 off the bench, while Christian Sanders (Boston) and Ryan Pacy (Salem, NH) had 12 and 11 respectively.
Delgado added eight rebounds while Yuno Matsuda (Tokyo, JP) and Joendy Rosario (Lawrence) combined to hand out 11 assists in the win.
For the game, the Knights shot 54.2% compared to 50% for the Lions, while also outrebounding them 48-32.
The Knights bench outscored the Lions by a 52-20 margin.