No. 16 Men's Basketball Flies By Fitchburg State, 90-55
NO. 16 MEN'S BASKETBALL FLIES PAST FITCHBURG STATE, 90-55
CHICOPEE, MA, Dec. 4, 2008 - Junior guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) poured in a season-high 30 points as No. 16 Elms College scored the game's first 12 points and never looked back en route to a 90-55 win over Fitchburg State College in Thursday night's non-conference men's basketball game at the Maguire Center.
Elms College, ranked 16th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, remained unbeaten as it improved to 7-0 for the first time in program-history. Fitchburg State fell to 3-2.
Galdon dropped in 21 of his points on 7 of 9 shooting, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, in the first half. The game also marked his third career 30-plus point effort.
The Blazers roared out to a 12-0 lead in the opening 3:55 as junior forward Javon Mathis (West Hartford, CT) converted three layups, Galdon knocked down the first of his season-high six 3-pointers and senior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) added a layup and free throw.
Fitchburg State eventually settled in and used a 19-14 run over the next 10:20 to cut the deficit to 26-19 with 5:45 remaining in the opening half.
Elms College, however, closed the first half on a 19-13 run to build a 45-32 lead at intermission.
From there, the Blazers shot a sizzling 54.2-percent in the second half and led by as many as 39 with 3:10 remaining.
Thomas finished with 11 points and a game-high nine assists and Mathis added 10 points in just 21 minutes as the two Blazers to score in double figures.
Senior forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) and
sophomore guard Dan Gonzalez (East Windsor, CT)
dropped in eight points apiece for Elms College, which had a total
of 11 players score in the victory.
The Blazers' defense was outstanding, as it limited the Falcons to just 31.5-percent shooting (17 for 54). Fitchburg State senior guard Brian Torres (North Dighton, MA), who came into the game averaging a team-leading 22.0 points, was held to just eight points in 31 minutes.
Sophomore forward Elliot Knower (Templeton, MA) tallied a team-high 11 points as the only player to reach double figures for the Falcons in the losing effort.
Elms College plays its first semester home finale against Trinity on Saturday, December 6. Tip-off at the Maguire Center is 3:00 p.m.