No. 2 Mens Basketball Advances Past No. 7 Curry College, 77-66 In ECAC Championship Opening Round
No. 2 Men’s Basketball Advances Past No. 7 Curry College, 77-66 In ECAC Championship Opening Round
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CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior point
guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) scored 21
second-half points to help lift the second-seed Blazers to a 77-66
victory over No. 7 Curry College and advance to the semifinal round
of the 2009-10 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)
Championship tournament, Wednesday at Picknelly Arena.
With the win, Elms improves to 22-6 on the season and will take on
sixth-seeded Husson University (16-11) in the semifinal round of
the ECAC Championship tournament on Saturday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m.
The Eagles downed No. 3 Plymouth State University 70-62 in opening
round action to secure their matchup with the Blazers. Curry,
meanwhile, concludes its campaign 15-14 overall.
Top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University outlasted No. 8
Wentworth Institute of Technology, 64-59 and will host the
semifinals and championship round contests. The Warriors will take
on No. 4 Becker College in semifinal action on Saturday, March 6 at
4:00 p.m. The Hawks ousted No. 5 Framingham State from tournament
action with a 77-75 victory.
Trailing 34-31 2:12 into the second frame, Blazers’
sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.)
buried a three-pointer to knot the game at 34-34. Following a Curry
free throw by Chris Bonadies (Medfield, Mass.),
Maldonado struck from beyond the arc to put Elms up 37-35 at the
18:28 mark.
Curry regained the lead and led by as many as four at 43-39 with
14:21 to play in the contest before the Blazers answered with a 9-0
run that featured five points from senior forward Javon
Mathis (East Harford, Conn.) and two each from Maldonado
and sophomore guard Luis Santiago (San Juan, Puerto
Rico) to set the score at 48-43 with 11:43 remaining.
The Colonels’ Mark Mastrullo (Billerica,
Mass.) netted all of Curry’s next 10 points to
highlight a 10-3 run that put the Colonels ahead 53-51. Maldonado
answered with a trey that ignited a 12-5 run by the Blazers.
Maldonado connected on two more three-pointers to highlight the
stretch that gave Elms a 63-58 cushion with 6:10 left in the second
stanza.
A mid-range jumper by Curry’s Jarrell Jackson
(Brockton, Mass.) at the 4:33 mark pulled the Colonels to
within one at 63-61, but Elms sealed the victory by scoring 14 of
the next 19 points.
After being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, Maldonado
exploded for a game-high 21 points, highlighted by six treys.
In the opening period, Elms led by as many as 15 behind 13 points
from Mathis. Trailing 31-19 with 4:15 in the frame, Curry mounted a
furious rally, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 32-31 lead at
intermission. Philippe Jourdain (Cambridge, Mass.)
led the charge with seven points, while Mastrullo, Michael
Worrick (North Grafton, Mass.) and Michael
D’Amato (Redding, Conn.) added 10 each during the
span.
Mathis finished with a double-double pouring in 20 points and
hauling in a team-high 10 rebounds, while senior forward
Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) added 12 points
and snagged six boards.
Corcoran dished out six assists and recorded eight rebounds, while
junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.)
and Santiago finished with eight points apiece.
Mastrullo led four Colonels’ players in double figures with
16 points, while Jourdain notched 15 points and a game-best 11
rebounds.
Jackson and Rodney Bennett (Mattapan, Mass.)
contributed 12 and 10 each in the losing effort, while Bonadies
added nine rebounds.