No. 2 Men’s Basketball Downs No. 1 Eastern Connecticut State, 94-71 To Win ECAC Tournament Championship

Box Score

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) poured in a game-high 26 points and was named tournament Most Outstanding Player to help lift the second-seeded Blazers to a convincing 94-71 victory over No. 1 Eastern Connecticut State University to win the 2010 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) men’s basketball championship at Geissler Gymnasium in Willimantic, Conn.

Elms finished its 2009-10 campaign on an 11-game winning streak to establish a 24-6 overall record and garner the program’s first-ever ECAC title. Eastern Connecticut concluded its season 20-10 overall.

Leading 50-45 with 16:44 to play in the game, Elms used a 16-3 run to pull away from Eastern Connecticut and post a commanding 66-48 lead with 12:51 to play in the contest. Maldonado swished a pair from beyond the arc, while junior guard Arsenio Avant (Southwest, Fla.) added a three-pointer of his own to highlight the stretch.

Trailing 77-62 with 6:06 to play in the contest, Eastern Connecticut’s Jeremy Thompson (Berlin, Conn.) hit the back end of two free throws to pull the Warriors to within 14, but that’s as close as they would get as the Blazers scored 14 of the next 23 points to seal the win.

Elms shot a spectacular 64.5-percent from the field in the second half and finished the game with a 57.8 field goal percentage. The Blazers’ defense also forced 22 turnovers which they converted into 34 points.

Trailing 18-16 with 12:40 to play in the first period, Eastern Connecticut’s Edwin Ortiz (Hartford, Conn.) sank a trey to ignite an 11-1 run that gave the Warriors a 30-19 advantage at the 6:41 mark of the first frame. Elms responded by scoring 11 unanswered points on the strength of a layup each by junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.), senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.), senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) and five points from Maldonado to knot the game at 30-30 with 3:56 to play.

With the score tied at 39-39 with 50 ticks remaining in the first half, Holder struck from beyond the arc and then delivered a layup with four seconds on the clock to give Elms a 44-39 lead at intermission.

Mathis finished with 19 points, while Holder dropped in 14 points off the bench. Martinez added 11 points to give the Blazers four players in double figures, while Mathis collected a team-best five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) helped pace the Elms offense dishing out a game-best five assists.

Ortiz was stellar in defeat for Eastern Connecticut, connecting on 5 of 7 from three-point range en route to 17 points to lead the Warriors. Thompson finished with 12 points, while Nick Newick (Irvington, N.Y.) added 11.

Hamilton Levy (Woodbury, Conn.) hauled in a game-high six rebounds in the losing effort and added a game-best four steals.