Men’s Basketball Falls At Union, 74-68

Box Score

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Elms College had three players score in double figures but Union College’s Joey Lokitis (Norton, Mass.) poured in a game-high 23 points including five of the final six to help lift the Dutchmen to a 74-68 victory over the Blazers in Tuesday evening’s Sig Makofski men’s basketball consolation game.

With the loss, Elms falls to 6-4 on the season, while Union improves to 4-6 overall.

With the score locked at 68-68 late in the second period, Lokitis hit from beyond the arc following a pair of misfires by Elms, giving Union a 71-68 lead with 35 ticks on the clock. He then converted a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left, and Matt Covucci (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) drained the front-end of two free throws nine seconds later to seal the 74-68 victory for the Dutchmen.

Covucci scored 13 points in the winning effort for Union, while Joseph Mason (Chicago, Ill.) and Cal Shorey (Calais, Maine) netted 11 points apiece. All of Shorey’s points came in the second half, while Mason handed out seven assists on the evening.

Trailing 40-38 at the break, Elms scored six unanswered points and maintained a narrow lead (no more than five points) until a three-pointer by Mason gave the Dutchmen its first lead of the second stanza, 59-58 at the 9:06 mark.

After playing to a 62-62 stalemate, a pair of baskets put Union ahead by four before Elms' senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) swished a trey, and junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) delivered an old-fashioned three-point play to push the Blazers in front, 68-66 with 2:47 remaining in the contest. From there, Covucci tied the game on a layup with 2:19 on the clock setting up Lokitis’ heroics for the Dutchmen.

Maldonado paved the way for the Blazers, scoring 16 points and dishing out six assists while contributing four steals. Senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) drained 14 points, while Martinez dropped in 13 to round out Elms’ players in double figures.

Neither team posted leads of more than six points as the sides played to nine ties and 10 lead changes.

Lokitis was 8 of 14 from the field and 5 for 9 from three-point range to help Union shoot 50.9 percent from the field, and a sizzling 52.6-percent from beyond the arc for the game.

Elms will host Newbury College in its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Picknelly Arena. Tip-off is slated for 4:00 p.m.