MBB Comes Up Short at Elms
CHICOPEE, Mass. - Elms College's Juan Maldonado scored a game-high
18 points and Antoine Holder added 17 to help lift the Blazers to a
79-59 victory over Mitchell College in Saturday afternoon's New
England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at
Picknelly Arena.
With the win, Elms has now won five straight to improve to 18-6
overall, 11-2 in NECC play. Mitchell falls to 3-17 on the season,
2-9 in conference action.
Elms raced out to a commanding 26-9 lead in the opening 10:19 of
the game. Maldonado drained a trio of three-pointers to highlight
the stretch.
Mitchell scored eight unanswered points to pull to within nine
thanks to a pair from beyond the arc by sophomore Paul
Jefferson and a jumper by junior Drew Norris to set the
score at 26-17 with 7:47 to play in the first half.
Elms' Arsenio Avant then drained a trey to spark a 14-2
run that saw Maldonado hit another three-pointer and a
jumper, Javon Mathis swish a pair from the stripe, Holder
hit a mid-range jumper and Austin Sylvia sink a jumper to
give Elms a 21-point lead at 40-19 with 2:38 to go in the frame.
From there, a layup by Holder with 25 ticks left gave the Blazers a
22-point cushion at intermission.
Elms scored 16 of the first 23 points to start the second period on
the strength of a trey by Bryant Corcoran, six points
from Edgar Martinez and two points apiece from Maldonado,
Holder and Brittain Purcelle and a free throw
by Juan Alverio to set the score at 59-28 with 13:23 to
go in the contest.
A Holder layup at the 11:54 mark of the frame gave Elms a
commanding 34-point advantage, its largest of the game. Elms
maintained at least a 20-point lead for the remainder of the
contest, as Martinez finished with eight points off the bench,
while Purcelle and Jamal Hulum chipped in six points each.
Alverio and Hulum tied for a team high in rebounds with five each,
while Andre French dished out a game-high six assists. Mathis
added two blocked shots in the winning effort.
Jefferson came off the bench to lead the Mariners' offensive
attack, netting a season-high 17 points, while junior Tyler Blier added eight
in the losing effort.
Mitchell returns to action on Tuesday, February 16 against Lesley
University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Yarnall Athletic
Center.
