Men's Basketball Held Off By Becker, 77-74
MEN'S BASKETBALL HELD OFF BY BECKER, 77-74
CHICOPEE, MA, Jan. 19, 2008 - Elms College sophomore point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) poured in a game-high 28 points, but Becker College had four players reach double figures and the Hawks overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to earn a 77-74 win over the Blazers in Saturday afternoon's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's basketball game at the Maguire Center.
Becker won its fourth straight and improved to 7-8 overall, 4-1 NAC. The win was also the Hawks first over the Blazers in the last 14 meetings, dating back to 2002.
Elms College, meanwhile, lost for the fourth time in its last five games and fell to 9-6, 2-2 NAC.
With the game tied 68-68 and 1:14 remaining, freshman center Trey Jacobs (Lexington Park, MD) knocked down a jumper to give the Hawks a 70-68 lead.
Freshman guard Kevin Miranda (Brockton, MA) followed 41 seconds later with a deep 3-pointer from the top of the arc to extend Becker's lead to 73-68.
Although Galdon sank a pair of free throws with 27 seconds left to pull the Blazers to within 73-70, Miranda and Jacobs combined to knock down four free throws over the final 22 seconds to seal the Hawks' victory.
Miranda finished with a team-high 21 points, including 6 of 10 shooting from 3-point range, junior guard Travis Suber (Springfield, MA) finished with 16 points, Jacobs added 13 points and freshman guard DJ Exum (New London, CT) dropped in 12 points to all finish in double figures for the Hawks.
Junior forward Joe Esile (Milford, CT) finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers as the only other Elms College player to reach double figures.
Becker's bench also proved crucial, as it outscored Elms College's bench 42-16.
Elms College returns to conference play on Friday, January 25 at the University of Maine-Farmington. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.