Tracking the Bears

• The Coast Guard Academy men's basketball team is rolling. The Bears won their fifth straight by beating rival Merchant Marine 93-88 in overtime on Saturday. Sophomore Packy Witkowski was named the CGASports.com athlete of the week after scoring a game-high 25 points and making seven 3-pointers. Witkowski leads the Bears in scoring at 19.7 points per game and also has made a team-best 22 3-pointers overall. They're already just two wins shy of equaling last season's victory total. CGA (5-1) hosts Mitchell College (3-5) on Saturday before taking a 13-day break. Both teams already beat Connecticut College, so the winner will be crowned the college basketball king of New London. The Bears won last year's meeting 80-68.

Camel highlights

• Two Connecticut College sophomores registered top 10 marks in the nation in Division III indoor track and field. Koko Mensah is ranked 10th in the shot put after her throw of 42 feet, 1.25 inches helped her secure second place Saturday at the Rhode Island College Invitational. She already has met the qualifying mark for the New England Division III Championships later this season. Competing in the same meet, David Aschale's winning time in the 3,000 meters of 8 minutes, 52.70 seconds stands ninth nationally and also qualified him for the New England Division III Championships.

• It's been a challenging stretch for the women's hockey team. Through seven games, the No. 8 Camels already have faced five teams ranked in the top 10. They fell to No.1 Norwich University 4-2 on Sunday. Senior Lily Connolly and freshman Erin Dillon each have four goals apiece for the Camels (4-2-1).

Mariners riding a wave

• Mitchell College junior Domenico Santiago leads the New England Collegiate Conference in field goal percentage at 67.6. He's averaging 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds for the Mariners (3-5). He had 16 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 75-68 win over Conn College.

• The women's basketball team split its first two NECC games, beating Lesley University and losing to Newbury College. Sophomore guards Haley Garcia and Allegra Jones are the leading scorers, averaging 12 points and 10.5 points, respectively. Freshman forward Marissa Sweeney averages a team-best 7.4 rebounds.

Around the region

• UConn sophomore guard Crystal Dangerfield earned American Athletic Conference player of  the week honors for women's basketball after scoring 18 points and hitting a career-high tying six 3-pointers in a rout of DePaul on Thursday.

• WPI's David Chen, a sophomore from Niantic, was named the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference swimmer of the week. Chen won the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events in 58.56 seconds and 2:10, respectively, in a meet against Wesleyan, Tufts and Williams on Saturday. He also took second in the 50 breast in 26.98.

• Bozrah native Isaiah Bellamy, a Wesleyan University senior, earned New England Wrestling Association Co-Wrestler of the Week honors after his impressive performance at the RIT Invitational. He led the Cardinals to second place in the 11-team field by winning the heavyweight division with a 4-0 record. In the finals, he knocked off two-time All-American James Bethel of SUNY-Oneonta, who's ranked third in the country, by pin in 4:17. Bellamy, who attended Lawrence (Mass.) Academy, is 13-0 this season with 11 pins.

• India Pagan is making an impact in her first season as a member of the Stony Brook women's basketball team. A former New London High School all-state pick, Pagan has started all nine games for the Seawolves (5-4), averaging 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game. Her best scoring output came against Wagner on Nov. 26 when she finished with 12 points.

• Jada Lucas, Pagan's former high school teammate, is a freshman guard for the University of Hartford. She's seen limited action off the bench, playing a total of 10 minutes in five games. The two ex-Whalers will meet on Jan. 6 when Hartford visits Stony Brook. The return game for the America East rivals is Feb. 3 in Hartford.

• J.T. Mullins of East Lyme and Cameron Collins, a Montville graduate, are freshmen members of the Salve Regina men's basketball team. Mullins, who attended Marianapolis Prep, has seen limited action in five games while Collins is averaging 8.8 points and 5.1 rebounds while appearing in eight games, making five starts. Last month, Collins was named the Commonwealth Coast Conference rookie of the week. Salve (5-3) visits Mitchell College on Tuesday.

• Former Fitch standout Tyler Latham recently began his final indoor track and field season at Central Connecticut State University. In his first meet, Latham placed fifth out of 19 competitors in the heptathlon at the UConn MultiEvent Challenge that took place Thursday and Friday. He finished with 4,726 points and posted the second-best time in the 60-meter hurdles (8.41 seconds). He had the third-best performance in the 1,000 (2:51.92) and 60 dash (7.28).

• Ledyard High School graduate Darnay Gray scored a team-high 20 points for the Lyndon State basketball team in an 85-74 loss to Colby Sawyer College on Saturday.

• Nichols College sophomore guard DeAnte Bruton of New London and Ledyard High heads into the semester break averaging 18.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists through nine games. Nichols, which qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament last year, is 8-1.

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