Men’s Basketball Soars Past Daniel Webster, 81-61

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) poured in a game-best 20 points and three other Blazers finished in double figures to help pace Elms to a 81-61 victory over Daniel Webster College in Saturday afternoon’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men’s basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 15-6 on the season, 8-2 in conference play, while Daniel Webster slides to 7-11 overall, 3-5 in NECC action.

Elms sprinted to a 14-4 lead in the opening 5:23 on the strength of a three-pointer and a jumper from junior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico), two layups and a free throw by senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.), and a mid-range jumper and two from the stripe by freshman guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.).

Trailing 18-12 with 11:07 to go in the opening stanza, Daniel Webster’s Chris Hanson (Salem, Mass.) sparked an exchange of five straight three-pointers, as Hanson swished two of the Eagles’ treys, while Maldonado and sophomore guard Luis Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) each connected from beyond the arc for the Blazers. Keith Speed (Columbus, Ohio) drilled the final three-pointer of the span, setting the score to 24-21 in favor of Elms at the 10:00 mark.

Trailing 31-25, Adam Landry (Vernon, Conn.) struck for a three-pointer bringing Daniel Webster back to within three at 31-28 with 6:06 to play in the frame.

Elms scored 13 of the final 20 points to take a 44-35 lead into the intermission.

The Blazers quickly upped their lead to 14 points just 1:37 into the second stanza when junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) converted two shots from the charity stripe and Maldonado added a three-pointer and a layup to give Elms a 51-37 advantage.

Daniel Webster cut the Blazers’ lead to nine points on two more occasions before Elms used a 9-2 run to extend the lead back to 16 points (71-55) with 8:16 to play. Mathis delivered two more buckets in the paint, Maldonado connected for another trey and senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) put one in off the glass during the stretch.

Elms maintained at least a 14-point cushion for the remainder of the contest, and freshman guard Walter Mfuko (Amherst, Mass.) swished a jumper with 2:00 on the clock to set the score at 81-60 and give the Blazers their largest lead of the game (21 points).

Mathis finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench, while Martinez and Alverio contributed 11 and 10 points respectively in the winning effort.

Maldonado hit on 8 of 12 from the floor and 4 of 6 from long-range en route to his 20-point total.

Purcelle finished with nine points, while senior forward Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, Mass.) swatted away three shots.

Daniel Webster shot 42.9-percent from the field behind a 19-point effort from Hanson. Landry netted 12 points, while Hanson finished with a game-best eight rebounds.

Eric Suarez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) swatted three shots of his own, and handed out three assists in the losing effort for the Eagles.

Elms returns to action Tuesday, Feb. 9 when it hosts Becker College in a NECC showdown. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.