NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

In game two of the annual Cadet-Mariner Classic, co-hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Mitchell College, the Coast Guard men's basketball team held on for an 84-74 victory over City College of New York despite a late second half push by the Beavers.

The Bears improve to 3-0, while CCNY move to 0-4. The Beavers will look for their first win of the season tomorrow when they take on Mitchell College (1-4) in game three of the Cadet-Mariner Classic, which will be hosted by Coast Guard.

Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) led the Bears in scoring with 18 points to go with his seven rebounds and three assists. Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) pulled down a game-high ten boards alongside a 15-point outing to post his second double-double of the season. Four other Bears reached double-digits in the win while CCNY had three players in that category, led by Michael Bowman's 23 points and Justin Morety's 21.

Coast Guard was red-hot to start, getting out to a 14-5 lead in the first half before the game clock hit 15 minutes. They went 5-for-8 in that opening stretch, including 4-for-6 from three. The Bears eventually took a 52-31 lead into the break after finishing the half shooting 18-for-38 from the field and 12-for-24 from three. The Beavers were unable to keep up with CGA's shooting rate, 13-for-36 from the field and just 4-for-12 through the opening 20 minutes.

Despite the big deficit going into half two, CCNY made some major adjustments at halftime which eventually proved dividends with a 12-0 run to get the Bears' lead down to 76-69 with just 3:15 left to play. Among these adjustments was a full court press that kept CGA from carrying over some excellent first half ball movement, resulting in 15 second half turnovers from the Bears and 25 points off turnovers for the Beavers. CCNY also kicked their first half shooting struggles, going 16-for-32 from the field and 5-for-10 on threes.

The teams traded scores before Farrell was sent to the line for a 1-and-1. He made the first but missed the second, which was rebounded by Bowman. The change in possession came with a change in luck for the Beavers, who gave the ball back after a questionable three-point attempt was missed and rebounded by Parent. The Bears guard raced down the court, finished through contact under the basket, and converted the and-one free throw to put his team back up by 11. After traded possessions, Bowman stole a crosscourt pass and matched Parent on the other end to put the deficit back to eight. CCNY later got the ball back again with less than 30 seconds to go, but great pressure in transition from the Bears forced another turnover. Colin Huang (Irvine, Calif.) was quickly fouled but felt no pressure in hitting both free throws for the daggers, but one more turnover by CCNY with 15 seconds to go officially sealed the deal for CGA.

Bowman proved to be a thorn in the Bears' side all night by totaling six steals. Huang finished the night with ten points and seven rebounds, while classmate Aiden Dabbondanza (Gaithersburg, Md.) posted 11 points alongside his team-high two steals. Jordan Frazer (Columbia, S.C.) and Trevor Parks (Clearwater, Fla.) were the other two Bears reaching double-digits for points with respective nights of 11 and 10.

Bears men's basketball wraps up their Cadet-Mariner Classic slate tomorrow at 3:00 PM ET against Westfield State University (3-0). The two programs have only faced off once, with their battle on November 18th, 2023, being an 86-72 victory for the Owls.