PITTSFIELD – The Maine Central Institute Postgraduate men’s basketball team created a sufficient margin for error in the first three minutes of Thursday’s prep school matchup with Lee Academy.

The Huskies scored the game’s first eight points, then nursed that advantage through several runs by the visiting Pandas to earn an 82-72 victory at Wright Gymnasium.

MCI (5-5) never trailed after taking that 8-0 lead, and while Lee tied the game late in the first half, the perimeter-oriented Pandas (9-7) were unable to take that additional step toward securing the game’s momentum.

“It’s one of our typical games,” said Lee coach Carl Parker. “We dig a hole and then fight up the hill and get it close, and then we let them have another run and then we fight back up the hill again.

“We’ve just got to get some ‘hump’ points, that’s basically what it comes down to. We never quite got over the hump.”

Van Dellenbeck, a 6-foot-5 guard from Medford, Ore., led MCI with 22 points, while Bulgarian big man Svetoslav Chetinov added 17, 13 in the second half.

Chetinov also delivered perhaps the game’s biggest offensive play, after Lee had crept within 60-58 with 4:30 left in the game thanks to University of Colorado-bound point guard Nate Tomlinson scoring 10 points over a three-minute stretch, including two 3-pointers.

The 6-9 Chetinov got the ball in the low post, then briefly lost possession before regaining it and driving to the basket. He was fouled while making the shot, and added the free throw to restore MCI to a five-point cushion.

Dellenbeck and Matthews each followed with two free throws to extend the margin to 69-60 as the Huskies made 16 of their last 17 free-throw attempts to preserve their second win of the season over Lee.

“Svet had a real nice game,” said MCI coach Dave Campbell. “He scored 17, and it was a quiet 17 I thought, but he did a good job for us inside.”

Marcus Matthews, a 6-3 guard from New York City, added 16 points for the winners, including a 10-of-12 effort from the free-throw line, while 6-4 wing Danny Evans of Pine Bluff, Ark., finished with 10 points.

Lee couldn’t match MCI’s inside strength, so offensively the Pandas went outside, where they made 13 of 32 3-point shot attempts.

Casey Fox, a 6-5 wing player from Halifax, Nova Scotia, made 5 of 10 from beyond the arc en route to a team-high 21 points. Christopher Bass, a 6-1 guard from Baton Rouge, La., who is the brother of Dallas Mavericks forward Brandon Bass, added 19 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Tomlinson had 16 points and five assists and 6-6 center Chris Baskerville scored 10 points.

“Obviously our margin for error isn’t as great as it would be if we had a big guy inside,” said Parker. “Baskerville’s done a pretty good job scoring and defensively, but with our quickness we could maybe get out a little more if we had a shot blocker back there, but we really don’t have that.”

Evans opened the game with a 17-foot jumper and then the putback of his own miss, and Dellenbeck followed with a jumper from the key before Matthews converted a fast-break layup to give MCI an immediate 8-0 cushion.

Lee eventually tied the game at 23-23 on a 3-pointer by Tomlinson with 2:43 left in the half, but Chetinov made a hook shot and Evans added a fast-break layup as MCI took a 27-23 edge at the end of a ragged first half that featured 33 turnovers – 21 by Lee.

Evans scored twice and Dellenbeck added a jumper as MCI scored the first six points of the second half to take a 33-23 cushion.

Lee rallied behind some accurate 3-point shooting, but each time the Pandas closed the gap, MCI had a response.

When Lee got within 44-42 on Larry Grant’s 3-pointer with 12:02 left, Dellenbeck sandwiched a 3-pointer and a jumper from the top of the key around a followup basket by Chetinov to restore MCI to a 53-42 advantage.

MCI 82, LEE 72

Lee Academy (9-7) MCI (5-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Baskerville 4 4 2 6 10 Orukotan 2 7

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 Matthews 3 10 12 16

Bass 6 13 4 4 19 Reiff 0 2 2 2

Tomlinson 5 11 3 6 16 Dellenbck 8 16 4 4 22

Williams 0 3 0 0 0 Evans 5 8 10

Tomah 1 3 0 0 3 Anderson 3 6

Fox 6 11 4 6 21 Jgerenaia 0 2 0

Jassar 0 1 0 0 0 Henry 0 0 2

Zelalija 0 3 0 0 0 Chetinov 7 11 3 4 17

Grant 1 1 0 0 3 Gawrzdk 0 1 0

Anderson 0 0 0 0 0

Melchior 0 0 0 0 0

Beigi 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 50 13 22 72 Totals 28 44 24 32 82

Lee Academy 23 72

MCI 27 82

3-pt. goals – Lee (13-32): Fox 5-10, Tomlinson 3-5, Bass 3-8, Grant 1-1, Tomah 1-3, Williams 0-2, Zelalija 0-3; MCI (2-8): Dellenbeck 2-6, Matthews 0-1, Reiff 0-1

Attendance: 100 (est.)