MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State College Mustangs won their second straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Men’s Basketball Championship after holding off a second half rally from the Wells College Express and winning 74-72. 

The Mustangs (21-5) will now earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.  They will find out their opponent during the NCAA selection show, which is scheduled for Monday at 12:30 p.m. and can be found on www.ncaa.com.

Junior Jailaan Kinsey (Syracuse, N.Y.) was awarded the tournament's Most Valuable Player award after compiling 29 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the tournament, including a game-high 21 points against Wells in the title game.

Trailing by 18 points, 55-37, with 13:59 remaining in the second half, the Express rattled off 12 straight points to cut the deficit to six points, 55-49, with 10:55 remaining in the second half.

The Mustangs would continue to hold the lead and see themselves up 69-61 with 4:24 left in regulation, but Wells scored the game's next five points to cut the deficit to only three points with 3:21 remaining in the second half.  Junior Kucjok Ater (Syracuse, N.Y.) answered the rally with a bucket to put Morrisville back up five, but junior EJ Taylor (Tampa Bay, Fla.) buried two out of three free throws to make it a three-point game with 1:01 left before hitting another pair of free throws to make it just a one-point game, 73-72, with 12 seconds remaining.

With only nine seconds left and Morrisville possessing control of the ball, junior Jonathan Bonds Chicago, Ill.) was forced to foul Kinsey and send him to the line. Following a 1-for-2 performance at the charity stripe, the Express retained possession as the seconds wound down. Unable to get a clean shot off during that time, Taylor launched a desperation jumper that clanged off the side of the hoop and gave Morrisville the win.

Junior Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, N.Y.) scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, while Ater finished with 15 points and five rebounds.  Junior Mickey Davis (Syracuse, N.Y.) had 12 points and six rebounds, while junior Jordan Prior (Cortland, N.Y.) dished out a team-high

Junior Al Paul (Elmont, N.Y.) had a game-high 25 points for the Express, while Taylor finished with 24 points and Bonds grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

This was the Express’ fourth appearance in the championship game in their five-year program history.

*Portions of this release courtesy of Griffin Spencer, Wells College sports information director

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has thirteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, Pennsylvania State University -Harrisburg, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Institute of Technology, SUNY Morrisville State College, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Hilbert College (M Lacrosse), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf & M Tennis).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of men’s and women’s tennis.