Elms Pulls Away Late Over MBB

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Elms College men's basketball team used a late push to post a 69-59 victory at Mitchell College on Thursday night at the Yarnall Athletic Center.

Elms (10-5 overall, 5-1 NECC) scored 12 of the game's final 14 points to sew up its third straight win. Andre French led all scorers with 26 points and shot 6-for-8 from three-point range to pace the Blazers. He also added six rebounds, four assists and four steals on a night when he was the only Elms player to score in double figures.

Two players scored in double digits for the Mariners (5-8 overall, 3-4 NECC). Sophomore Joshua Ford netted 16 points and added a game-high 15 rebounds to record a double-double while senior Enoch Contreras contributed 15 points and four assists.

A free throw by Darius Griffin put Elms ahead 57-51 with 5:42 to play in the contest, its biggest lead of the second half up to that point. Mitchell then responded with six straight points, tying the game on a fast-break lay-up by Ford with 3:19 remaining. 

A quick timeout gave Elms a chance to regroup, and French righted the ship on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer that sparked an 11-0 run. Griffin accounted for five points during the spurt, and a free throw by Bryant Corcoran capped the stretch with Elms ahead 68-57 with 36 seconds to go.

Mitchell made just one of its final seven shot attempts in the final 2:29 and shot just 28 percent from the floor in the stanza. The Mariners shot 4-for-20 from three-point range in the contest while Elms chimed in with an 11-for-27 effort.

Ford scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half to pace the Mariners to a 36-32 lead at the break. French had 11 at the intermission and added 15 more in the second half, nine of which came from beyond the arc. David McDaniel finished with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Blazers while Daniel Gonzalez chipped in with nine points.

Mitchell returns to action at Newbury College on Saturday, January 21 at 2 p.m.