Men’s Basketball Sprints Past Southern Vermont, 86-61

Box Score

BENNINGTON, V.T. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) led all scorers with 17 points to help propel the Blazers to a 86-61 victory over Southern Vermont College in Saturday afternoon’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men’s basketball game.

With the win, Elms improves to 11-5 overall, 5-1 in NECC action, while Southern Vermont drops to 4-9 on the season, 1-4 in league play.

Elms raced to a 12-5 lead in the opening 4:14 behind a pair of Maldonado three-pointers, and a bucket each from Maldonado, senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) and junior guard Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.).

The Blazers scored 16 of the next 26 points to post a 28-15 lead with 9:06 to play in the first period, capped by a layup by senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.). Sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) drained a trey, and senior forward Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, Mass.) smacked one of his four blocks in the game during the stretch.

Southern Vermont’s Lance Spratling (Pittsfield, Mass.) nailed a jumper and Avery Mitchell (Schenectady, N.Y.) dropped in a pair from the charity stripe to pull the Mountaineers to within 10 at 28-18 with 7:23 remaining in the stanza.

Elms used a 17-7 run over the next 6:05 to post a 45-25 cushion, its largest lead of the first frame with 1:28 to go, before taking a 47-28 advantage into the break.

Maldonado scored 12 of his 17 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Mathis netted eight of his 11 in the opening half.

Leading 55-35 with 17:12 remaining in the contest, Elms erupted for 13 unanswered points powered by Corcoran’s second swish from beyond the arc, a free throw and a layup underneath by junior guard Robert Hargrove (Detroit, Mich.), a free throw by freshman guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) and a basket each from Holder, Martinez, and senior guard Arsenio Avant (Southwest, Fla.), lifting the Blazers’ lead to 68-35. The 33-point advantage at the 12:52 mark was the squad’s largest of the contest.

The Mountaineers scored 22 of the next 35 points to cut the Elms lead to 24 at 81-57 with 2:21 to go in the game, before the Blazers closed out the game by scoring five of the final nine points of the game to seal the 86-61 win.

Elms’ freshmen guards Anthony Samuels (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Walter Mfuko (Amherst, Mass.) chipped in five points off the bench in the second period, while Corcoran, Martinez and Sylvia added eight points total in the game.

Holder pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while freshman guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) dished out a game-best five assists.

Southern Vermont was led by Ben Naaktgeboren’s (Cambridge, N.Y.) team-high 12 points, while Connor Murray (Litchfield, Conn.) dropped in 10 off the bench in the losing effort. Naakktgeboren also secured a game-best nine boards, while Spratling grabbed seven rebounds.

Spratling, and Jordan Smith (San Antonio, Texas) finished with eight points each in the losing effort.

The Blazers capitalized on 26 Southern Vermont turnovers which translated into 30 points. Elms also scored 36 points in the paint while the Mountaineers tallied 20.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Tuesday, Jan. 26 when it hosts Connecticut College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.