On Nov. 12, the NECC Knights basketball team hosted MassBay Community College for the annual Veterans Day game. The theme was in honor of Veterans Day, with American flags everywhere and plenty of veterans in attendance.

MassBay had a 3-0 record going into the game and were fired up from the start. They were gaining all the offensive and defensive rebounds and were an all-around bigger team than the Knights. Knights coach, Darren Stratton noticed his team wasn’t playing up to par and turned it around quick with his aggressive but positive coaching style, keeping his team in check.

Late in the first half, a player from MassBay was taking a free throw. The whole gymnasium was silent. Then Jordan Sands of MassBay, who was lined up for the free throw play, looked at NECC’s Felix Moore and said a certain four letter expletive that got him ejected from the game.

After the ejection, NECC’s Dominic Dar got a free throw of his own and tied the game 33-33 with seven and a half minutes left in the first. The Sands ejection completely turned the game around for the Knights.

Moore hit a couple 3-pointers and the Knights went up 56-47 at halftime.

At the half, Athletic Director Sue MacAvoy took to the court and honored the veterans in attendance. These veterans included Charles H. Boule, Richard Jameson and Samson Racioppi.

When the second half began, it looked a lot like the beginning of the first. It was all MassBay — and they even tied the game at 65 after seven minutes of play. Coach Stratton got his players back on track though and MassBay’s heat cooled down a lot.

NECC’s Matthew Jameson began scoring big points, including some three-pointers; he then recorded a huge steal and scored with seven and a half minutes remaining which all but sealed up the game.

The Knights beat MassBay, 99-91, boosting their record to 3-1 on the season.