South Easton, Mass. – The 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Championship got underway on Friday night, as Assumption College and the University of New Haven both prevailed in first round action to earn spots in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

#10 New Haven 51, #7 Pace 49
New Haven earned a narrow victory on the road on Friday night, prevailing 51-49 against seventh-seeded Pace University. The Chargers owned a two-point lead at the half before the two teams scored 26 points apiece in the second half, making for an exciting finish in first round championship action. With the win, New Haven will travel to No. 2 Adelphi University on Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. tip.

Pace took a 49-47 lead with just under four minutes left after a pair of made free throws by Denzel Primus-Devonish. But just over a minute later a bucket by New Haven’s Jeffery Adkins, Jr. tied it up again before the Chargers retook the lead on an Ade Barek layup with 39 seconds left.

Eric Anderson finished 11 points and nine rebounds for New Haven, while Justin Exum added 11 and Adkins had 10. Primus-Devonish led all scorers with 20 points on 7-14 shooting for the Setters, while Pace’s Jonathan Merceus had a near double-double with nine points and 11 boards.

#9 Assumption 78,  #8 Bentley 65
Assumption saw all five of its starters score in double figures as the ninth-seeded Greyhounds came away with a 78-65 victory over No. 8 Bentley University on the road to advance to the quarterfinal round against No. 1 Franklin Pierce on Sunday (3:30 p.m.).

Tim Beinert led Assumption with 16 points while adding 12 rebounds and eight assists in the victory. Ronson Quick and Kevin Donahue added 11 apiece, while Bentley’s Sam Leclerc had a game-high 18 points.

The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

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