Men's Basketball Advances To NAC Tournament Semifinals
MEN'S BASKETBALL ZIPS PAST
MAINE-FARMINGTON, 79-65
TO ADVANCE TO NAC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
CHICOPEE, MA, Feb. 26, 2008 - Elms College sophomore point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) netted a team-high 15 points and the Blazers' defense forced 30 turnovers en route to a 79-65 win over the University of Maine-Farmington in the quarterfinals of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night.
With the victory, Elms College (20-6), the three-time defending NAC Tournament champions, extended its win streak to 11 straight games and will now host to the NAC Tournament semifinal and championship games on Friday, February 29 and Saturday, March 1. The Blazers will play in the Friday night's first semifinal at 6:00 p.m. against Becker.
Husson and Lesley meet in Friday night's other semifinal to follow immediately afterwards at 8:00 p.m.
Maine-Farmington, which lost its third straight game, was eliminated from the tournament and finished 11-15.
The Blazers roared out to a 10-0 lead in the game's opening 3:15 and led by as many as 17 (22-5) just 7:46 into the first half.
Maine-Farmington, though, responded with a 22-9 run over the next 6:34 to cut the deficit to 31-27.
A pair of jumpers by senior guard Randy Hite (Hartford, CT) over the next 60 seconds extended the Blazers' lead to 35-27.
Following a pair of free throws by Maine-Farmington sophomore center Josh Tanguay (Gorham, ME), the Blazers answered with a 6-0 run and built a 41-31 lead at intermission.
Senior forward Isaac Hutchinson (Oakland, ME) helped keep the Beavers close, as he scored all 14 of his points in the first half on 6 of 8 shooting from the field.
The Blazers scored 20 of their points in the first half off 17 Maine-Farmington turnovers.
The Beavers trailed 51-40 following a 3-pointer by senior guard Matt St. John (Wayne, ME) with 13:47 remaining in the second half before the Blazers used an 18-9 run over the next 7:00 to put the game out of reach.
St. John dropped in a game-high 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range as the only other player to reach double figures for the Beavers in the losing effort.
For the game, Elms College held advantages in both points in the paint (42-20) and points off turnovers (35-9).
Junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) and junior forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) both finished with 12 points apiece for the Blazers. Thomas also added a game-high six assists.
Tuesday night's victory also gave Elms College its fourth consecutive 20-win season.