No. 20 Men’s Basketball Tops WNEC, 84-65

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) scored a game-high 22 points and senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to help the 20th-ranked Blazers to a 84-65 victory over Western New England College (WNEC) in Tuesday evening’s non-conference men’s basketball game at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

With the win, Elms improves to 4-0 overall, while WNEC slips to 1-4 on the season.

After a 3-0 start to the season, Elms entered Tuesday's contest ranked 20th in the first regular-season D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll of 2009-10.

WNEC jumped ahead early, posting a 13-3 lead, before the Blazers put together a 13-3 run of its own to knot the contest at 16-16 with 11:21 remaining in the first period.

Elms outscored the Golden Bears 29-13 over the final 8:39 to take a 45-29 lead a halftime, capped by one of Maldonado’s five three-pointers on the evening.

The Golden Bears cut their deficit to 11 when senior Rick Johnson (Springfield, Mass.) connected on a three-pointer at the 11:56 mark to set the score at 57-43. That was as close as WNEC would get, as Elms scored 11 of the next 16 points, highlighted by two more treys from Maldonado, one from freshman guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.), and a mid-range jumper from Mathis.

Elms was able to maintain a double-digit lead as the Golden Bears committed a season high 32 turnovers against the pressing Blazers' defense.

Blazers’ sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) and French finished with nine points each, while Corcoran added a team-high six assists in the winning effort.

Maldonado hit on 5 of 7 from beyond the arc and 3 of 4 from the free throw line while adding four steals in the win.

Junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) added nine rebounds, while junior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) swatted two shots.

Johnson led the Western New England College with 20 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. He made 6-of-9 three-pointers,

Senior Brendan Murphy (West Springfield, Mass.) contributed 13 points and six rebounds while sophomore Andre Shaw (Jamaica, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 points.

The Blazers return to action at the ninth-annual Pioneer Valley Classic on Friday, Dec. 4. Elms will square off against No. 13 Amherst College at 6:30 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.