Elms College, Bowdoin Advance To Blazer Invitational Championship

ELMS COLLEGE, BOWDOIN ADVANCE TO
BLAZER INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Click here for Elms College/Maine-Machias box score

Click here for Bowdoin/Newbury box score

CHICOPEE, MA, Nov. 17, 2007 - Elms College sophomore point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) netted a team-high 16 points and the Blazers had five players reach double figures en route to a 90-78 non-conference men's basketball win over the University of Maine-Machias in Saturday's first round of the Blazer Invitational at the Maguire Center.

With the win, Elms College (1-0) advanced to Sunday's 3:00 p.m. championship game. The Blazers will face Bowdoin (1-0), which pulled away to a 62-47 win over Newbury (0-1) in Saturday night's other first round game.

Newbury and Maine-Machias will play in the consolation game on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. 

Elms College shot just 39.5-percent, but took 32 more shots from the field (86-54) and held a decisive 39-10 advantage in bench scoring.

Junior guard Joe Esile (Milford, CT) and freshman guard Nate DiSessa (Westfield, MA) combined for eight 3-pointers to help spark the Blazers.

Esile finished with 15 points - all on 3-pointers, - and DiSessa added 13 points, including three 3-pointers in his collegiate debut.

Senior guard Randy Hite (Hartford, CT) scored 13 points and junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) finished with 10 points for the Blazers, who led 41-32 at intermission.

Senior guard Charles Calligan (Manchester, ME) poured in a game-high 30 points on 11 of 18 shooting for Maine-Machias, which trailed by as many as 22 points with 16:28 remaining in the second half.

In Saturday night's other first round game, Bowdoin senior center Jordan Fliegel (Cambridge, MA) dropped in a game-high 26 points on a sizzling 12 of 15 shooting and the Polar Bears held the Nighthawks to just eight second half field goals.

Newbury held a six-point lead with 7:25 left in the opening half, but Bowdoin closed out the stanza with a 13-4 to take a 29-26 lead at intermission.

The Nighthawks received a team-high 12 points from senior guard Arch Mitchell (Framingham, MA).