Bears win eighth straight with 67-52 final against Seahawks

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Junior Nolan Benson had a season-high 14 points off the bench to lead four Coast Guard players in double figures as the Bears won their eighth straight beating Salve Regina 67-52 in a non-conference game.

Benson was 7 for 9 from the floor and added six rebounds while sophomores Justin Kane (13), Noah Baldez (13) and junior Bryce Schroeder (10) all finished in double figures for Coast Guard which improved to 8-1 on the season. Kane had a team-high eight rebounds in the win.

Junior Isaiah Bowman led Salve Regina (5-5) with 12 points off the bench while freshman Kevin Kelly added 10 points for the Seahawks. Freshman Stephen Natola led Salve with nine rebounds.

It was a sluggish first half for both teams with Coast Guard leading by as many as nine at 26-17 with 2:22 left and the Bears led 28-23 at the break. Coast Guard shot 37.5 percent (12-32) in the first half and missed all four of its 3-pointers. Salve was just 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) in the first half while hitting 4 of 12 from behind the arc.

Coast Guard started the second half with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes, six of those by Schroeder, as the Bears opened up a 36-23 lead with 18:02 left in the game.

Salve Regina would use a 14-5 run cutting the deficit to 43-39 with 12:05 left, but Coast Guard would put the game away using a 15-3 spurt to make the score 60-44 with 4:55 left.