Men's Basketball Earns Third Straight NAC Tournament Championship
MEN'S BASKETBALL DEFEATS
HUSSON 81-69
TO WIN THIRD STRAIGHT NAC TOURNAMENT
TITLE
BANGOR, ME, Feb. 24, 2007 - Elms College senior guard David Williams (Hartford, CT) netted a game-high 23 points and freshman point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) added a collegiate career-high 20 points to help lead the second-seeded Blazers to an 81-69 win over top-seeded Husson College in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Tournament men's basketball championship game at Newman Gymnasium.
Elms College won its third straight NAC Tournament title and will make its third straight appearance in this week's NCAA Division III Championship against an opponent to be determined. The NCAA will announce its championship brackets by early Monday morning.
With Saturday's win over Husson, the Blazers (20-8) recorded their third consecutive 20-plus win season under sixth-year head coach Ed Silva and tied Lasell College for the most consecutive NAC Tournament championships.
"At one point, Husson was making a bit of a run on us in the second half and our players took over the timeout we had called and said ‘we are not losing this game," Silva said. "It was amazing to see their determination."
Husson saw its 11-game winning streak snapped as it finished 22-6. The Eagles will now await a possible at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Championship.
Williams, who recorded his sixth 20-plus-point game this season and was named to the NAC All-Tournament Team, hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds to post the game's only double-double.
Galdon, who was named NAC Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP),
shot 7 for 10 from the field and added three assists in 26 minutes
for the Blazers, who broke away from a 32-32 tie at intermission
thanks to 58.6-percent shooting from the field in the second half.
"Juan was unbelievable in this game," Silva noted. "He made big shots, big passes, and drove the lane."
Junior forward Nate Hawes (New Hope, MN) and sophomore forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) teamed up defensively to limit Husson freshman forward Martin Cleveland (Portland, ME), the NAC's Rookie of the Year, to just five points in 29 minutes.
Hawes added 11 points as the third player to reach double figures for Elms College in Saturday's victory.
Husson, which also had three players reach double figures, was limited to 43.3-percent shooting in the second half.