No. 16 Men's Basketball Zips Past WNEC, 82-66
NO. 16 ELMS COLLEGE ZIPS PAST WNEC, 82-66
Box scoreCHICOPEE, MA, Dec. 2, 2008 - Junior forward Javon Mathis (West Hartford, CT) poured in a season-high 23 points and hauled in eight rebounds as No. 16 Elms College used a key run midway through the first half to pull away to an 82-66 win over Western New England College in Tuesday night'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 6-0 for the first time in program-history. WNEC, meanwhile, fell to 1-4.
The Blazers broke away from an 8-8 tie 3:38 into the first half with a 13-2 run over the next 3:51 to build a 21-10 lead. Mathis sparked the early run with a 3-point play and a pair of layups for seven of his nine first half points.
WNEC was limited to just 24.2-percent shooting (8 for 33) from the field in the opening half and was forced into 11 first half turnovers
Elms College, meanwhile, shot 47.2-percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, and held big advantages in both points in the paint (28-8) and bench scoring (23-0) as it built a commanding 36-22 lead at intermission.
Senior forward Kyle Fredette (Wallingford, VT) was outstanding for the Golden Bears, as he finished with a game-high 24 points and 17 rebounds, including a first half double-double of 14 points and 10 boards.
Senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, CT) registered 11 points and seven rebounds, and senior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) added 10 points and a game-high five assists for the Blazers in the winning effort.
Senior guard Matt Maynard (Paterson, NJ) scored 15 points in 34 minutes for the Golden Bears, who closed to within 57-48 with 8:21 remaining before the Blazers put the game out of reach with a 14-7 run over the next 5:36.
Elms College returns to non-conference home play when it hosts Fitchburg State on Thursday, December 4. Tip-off at the Maguire Center is 7:00 p.m. WNEC returns to action on Friday, December 5 when it travels to Westfield State in the first round of the Pioneer Valley Classic. Tip-off is 8:00 p.m.