No. 16 Men's Basketball Topples Trinity, 71-62
NO. 16 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOPPLES TRINITY, 71-62
CHICOPEE, MA, Dec. 6, 2008 - Sophomore guard Dan Gonzalez (East Windsor, CT) matched a season-high with 14 points and No. 16 Elms College used a key run midway through the second half to eventually pull away to a 71-62 win over Trinity College in Saturday's non-conference men's basketball game at the Maguire Center.
The Blazers, ranked 16th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, improved to 8-0 for the first time in program-history.
Saturday's win was also Elms College's first in six all-time meetings against Trinity (2-5), which lost its second straight and fell for the third time in the last four games.
Gonzalez, who scored 14 points two other times this season, finished 4 of 9 from the field and included a pair of 3-pointers in 20 minutes of action.
Junior forward Javon Mathis (West Hartford, CT) finished with 11 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes, and senior point guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) added 10 points, a team-high six assists and a game-high three steals for Elms College.
Trinity sophomore guard Jared Pimm's (Chelmsford, MA) 3-pointer with 8:46 remaining in regulation cut the Blazers' lead to just 52-44.
Senior forward Ronald Thomas (Chicago, IL) converted a layup and senior guard Joe Esile (Milford, CT) followed with a 3-pointer in the next 46 seconds as part of a 10-3 run that gave the Blazers the lead for good at 62-47 with 4:37 remaining.
Sophomore guard Brian Ford (Bronx, NY) scored a game-high 15 points in just 22 minutes and Pimm finished with 11 points as the only two Bantams to reach double figures in the losing effort.
Elms College started slow on the offensive end and could only muster a free throw by senior guard Ellis Jones (Malden, MA), a layup by Mathis and a putback by senior forward Malakie Berry (Enfield, CT) over the first 5:43.
The Blazers' defense, however, was tenacious early on, as Trinity was held scoreless for the game's opening 6:18 until Pimm converted a tip-in to get the Bantams on the board.
Elms College then roared to life with a 16-2 run over the next 5:07 to take its largest lead of the half at 21-4.
The Bantams answered with a 21-7 run to cut the deficit to 28-25 with 1:01 remaining as Ford helped key the run with all five of his first half points during that stretch.
A free throw by Mathis and jumper by Aswad Thomas in the final minute of the half extended the Blazers' lead to 31-25 at intermission.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, as Elms College shot just 33.3-percent (9 of 27), while Trinity was 9 of 29 (31.0-percent). The two teams connected on just 3 of 17 attempts from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Elms College concludes first semester play with a non-conference game at WPI on Sunday, December 14 at 1 p.m.