Men's Basketball Jumps Past Johnson State, 105-89
MEN'S BASKETBALL JUMPS PAST JOHNSON STATE, 105-89
CHICOPEE, MA, Jan. 11, 2008 - Johnson State senior guard Charlie Viana (Valley Stream, NY) poured in a school-record 42 points, but Elms College sophomore point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) scored a team-high 27 points and the Blazers had six players reach double figures to pull away to a 105-89 win over the Badgers in Friday night's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) men's basketball game at the Maguire Center.
The Blazers continued their best start in program-history and snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 9-3 overall, 2-0 NAC. Johnson State fell to 4-7, 0-1 NAC.
Viana, who erupted for 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting in the opening 20 minutes, finished 15 of 22 for the game, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range in 33 minutes en route to his collegiate career-high total.
Galdon, who registered his seventh 20-plus point outing in 12 games, scored 20 of his points in the second half to help the Blazers pull away from a slim 50-48 lead at intermission.
Junior forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) scored 17 points, senior forward Nate Hawes (New Hope, MN) tallied a season-high 14 points, freshman center Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) netted 13 points, junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) added 12 points and senior guard Randy Hite (Hartford, CT) finished with 11 points to all reach double figures in the victory.
Senior guard Chris Lamica (Averill Park, NY) and junior forward John Foley (Valley Stream, NY) added 12 points apiece for the Badgers, who shot 51.7-percent from the field (30 of 58), including 50-percent (7 of 14) from 3-point range.
Elms College returns to conference play when it hosts Castleton State College on Saturday, January 12. Game time is 2:00 p.m. at the Maguire Center.