Men's Basketball Wins Fourth Straight NAC Tournament Title
ELMS COLLEGE
HOLDS OFF LESLEY UNIVERSITY, 72-65
IN NORTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TITLE
Blazers earn fourth straight NAC Tournament
championship
and NCAA Division III Championship
berth
CHICOPEE, MA, March 1, 2008 - Elms
College junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT)
netted a game-high 17 points was named Tournament Most Valuable
Player (MVP) to help the Blazers earn a thrilling 72-65 win over
Lesley University in the championship game of the North Atlantic
Conference (NAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon
at the Maguire Center.
With the win, Elms College (22-6) earned its fourth consecutive NAC Tournament title, and with it, the conference's automatic qualifier into the upcoming NCAA Division III Championship.
The Blazers, who tied the school-record with their 22nd win, also set a new NAC record for most men's basketball tournament titles.
Lesley, which was making its first appearance in the NAC Tournament final following victories over Castleton and Husson, finished 12-16 overall.
With the game tied at 57-57 and 3:31 remaining, Lesley senior guard Joe Chatman (Boston, MA) drained a pair of free throws to give the Lynx the lead.
Elms College sophomore guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to put the Blazers back on top 60-59.
Following a defensive stop by the Blazers on Lesley's next possession, junior forward Joe Esile (Milford, CT) converted a layup, Galdon recorded a steal on the ensuing inbound and dished out to senior guard Randy Hite (Hartford, CT), who drained a deep 3-pointer to cap off an 8-0 run that gave the Blazers the lead for good at 65-59.
Hite, who was also named to the NAC All-Tournament team, matched his season-high with 14 points that included 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range.
Chatman gave a spirited effort for the Lynx, as he finished with a team-high 16 points and a game-high six assists in 39 minutes.
Senior guard Mark Stevens (Las Vegas, NV) netted 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting from 3-point range, freshman guard Jon Cruz (Haverhill, MA) scored 11 points and junior forward Malcolm Andrews (Medford, MA) added 10 points to all finish in double figures for the Lynx in the losing effort.
Elms College will now await its seeding in this week's NCAA Division III Championship, which will be announced on Monday, March 3 at 12:00 p.m.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Trey Jacobs (Becker)
Sheraud Lee (Husson)
Randy Hite (Elms College)
Joe Chatman (Lesley)
Mark Stevens (Lesley)
TOURNAMENT MVP
Aswad Thomas (Elms College)