Corcoran’s Trey Sinks Becker, 86-83

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) buried a three-pointer with three ticks remaining to lift the Blazers to a sensational 86-83 victory over Becker College in Tuesday evening’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men’s basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 16-6 overall, 9-2 in NECC action, while Becker suffers its first conference loss and moves to 12-8 on the season, 8-1 in league play.

Trailing 80-79 with 2:28 to go in the contest, Becker’s DJ Exum (New London, Conn.) connected on a pair of free throws to put the Hawks up 81-80. Elms’ senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) put the Blazers ahead 82-81 when he corralled a rebound off his own missed shot and touched in off the glass at the 1:01 mark.

A Trey Jacobs (Lexington Park, Md.) layup put the Hawks back on top 83-82 with 38 seconds to play, before Elms’ senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) hit the first of two free throws to even the game at 83-83 with 20 ticks on the clock.

A turnover by Becker on their ensuing possession set up the thrilling finish as senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) found Corcoran who nailed the trey to seal the hard-fought victory.

The swish was Corcoran’s only points of the second period as he finished with six for the game.

Becker raced to an early 8-0 lead in the opening 1:24 of the game, before Elms used a 18-6 run, capped by a layup from junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) that put the Blazers up 18-14 with 12:49 to play in the opening period. Jacobs then converted a pair of layups to even the score at 18-18 at the 11:32 mark.

The sides fought to three more ties before Elms took a 38-34 lead with 3:33 left in the frame. Martinez then converted four free throws to extend the advantage to eight at 42-34 with 2:47 to play in the stanza.

A free throw by Holder with 21 seconds left in the half gave Elms its largest lead of the contest (49-38), but Exum struck from beyond the arc to set the score at 49-41 at intermission.

Elms maintained at least a five-point advantage until Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) executed a layup to bring the Hawks to within three at 57-54 with 12:55 to play in the game. Becker fought to within one point three times before Markus Wright (New Haven, Conn.) hit a jumper with 9:33 remaining to knot the score 64-64.

A 6-2 run by Becker gave the Hawks a 70-66 lead, before Martinez and Maldonado each converted a layup underneath to send the game to another stalemate at 70-70 at the 7:15 mark.

An 8-3 run by the Blazers gave Elms a 78-73 lead before a Leggett put-back and two Wright free throws once again cut the Hawks’ deficit to one at 78-77. Mudia Osemwegie (Roselle, N.J.) then nailed a pair from the stripe to give Becker a slim cushion at 79-78 with 2:56 remaining. Freshman guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) then answered with a jumper to put Elms up by one at 80-79.

Martinez led five Blazers’ in double figures, netting 15 points, 11 of which came in the opening period. Mathis poured in 14 points and secured 13 rebounds, while Maldonado and Purcelle finished with 13 points and 11 points respectively.

Holder contributed 13 points off the bench, while senior forward Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, Mass.) hauled in eight boards and swatted three shots in the winning effort.

Leggett finished with a game-high 20 points and added 13 rebounds, while Jacobs tallied 18 points in the loss. Wright earned a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards, while Exum and Osewegie contributed 12 and 10 points respectively.

Elms shot 48.5-percent from the field in the opening frame, and shot 41.1-percent for the game, while Becker shot 54.7-percent for the game, including a staggering 58.1-percent in the first 20 minutes.

Elms returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 13 when it hosts Mitchell College in a NECC contest. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.