Men's Basketball Rallies Past Mount Ida In NAC Tournament Quarterfinals, 88-76
MEN'S BASKETBALL RALLIES PAST MOUNT
IDA
IN NAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS, 88-76
CHICOPEE, MA, Feb. 20, 2007 - Elms College sophomore forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) and senior guard David Williams (Hartford, CT) netted 14 points apiece and the Blazers rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to post an 88-76 win over Mount Ida College in the quarterfinals of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night at the Maguire Center.
With the win, Elms College (18-8 overall) advances to Friday night's NAC Tournament semifinals to be hosted at Husson College in Bangor, Maine against an opponent to be determined.
Mount Ida, which lost for the ninth time in its last 11 games, was eliminated from the tournament and finished its season 7-19 overall.
The Mustangs, who narrowly dropped a 79-78 decision at home to the Blazers on February 8, took a 41-37 lead at intermission following a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by sophomore guard Gino DiPietro (Westbrook, ME).
The Blazers responded to tie the game at 47-47 with 15:53 remaining following a layup by senior point guard John Ancrum (Harlem, NY).
Elms College then used a 12-4 run over the next five minutes to build a 59-51 lead with 10:59 remaining.
The Mustangs responded with a 10-4 run in the next 2:54 to pull to within 63-61.
Ancrum and sophomore guard Joe Esile (Milford,
CT) then answered with consecutive 3-pointers to build the
Blazers' lead to 69-61, and Elms College punched its ticket into
Friday's NAC Tournament semifinals with a game-ending 25-15 run
over the final 7:53.
Ancrum finished with 13 points and a game-high seven assists, junior forward Nate Hawes (New Hope, MN) scored 12 points, senior guard Justin Davis (Huntington, NY) tallied 11 points in 19 minutes, and Berry hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds as the only player from either team to register a double-double.
A total of five players reached double figures for the Blazers, who shot 50.0-percent from the field in the second half.
Senior guard Andreas Vasiliu (Newton, MA) led all scorers with 25 points and senior forward Doug Williams (Ellicot City, MD) added 22 points for the Mustangs, who had four of their seven players who appeared in the game reach double figures in the loss.
Vasiliu and Williams combined for 18 of the Mustangs' 28 total field goals.