Men’s Basketball Roars Past Wheaton College, 77-56

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) netted a game-high 19 points while two other Blazers provided double-digit outputs to help lift Elms to a convincing 77-56 victory over Wheaton College in Thursday evening’s non-conference men’s basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 6-1 on the season, while Wheaton slides to 3-4 overall.

In the opening frame, both teams came out firing as Wheaton College guard Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) scored the Lyons’ first seven points of the contest, connecting on a pair of layups and converting on a three-pointer to take an early 7-6 lead with 2:31 seconds into the contest.

Elms quickly responded with a 13-3 run to go ahead 19-10 with 11:42 remaining in the frame. Mathis delivered a pair of buckets in the paint, while junior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) and senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) each added a basket. Alverio also added a three-pointer to highlight the scoring run.

Wheaton responded by scoring 13 of the next 17 points to knot the game at 23-23, before center Mike Hall (Lynnfield, Mass.) executed a layup to put the Lyons up 25-23 with 4:41 remaining in the stanza.

The Blazers then exploded for a 16-0 run to end the half, ignited by treys from senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) and sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.). Mathis and Maldonado added two buckets each, while Mathis and Holder each nailed a free throw to pace Elms to a 39-25 lead at the break.

Elms started the second frame in the same fashion it ended the first, posting a 10-2 run in the first 2:27 of the stanza to give the Blazers a commanding 22-point lead at 49-27.

Wheaton guard Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, R.I.) nailed a mid-range jumper at the 12:41 mark to pull to within 16, but Elms did not allow the Lyons to get any closer than that as the Blazers led by as many as 26 points with 4:46 remaining in the contest.

Elms shot an impressive 53.3 percent in the second half and held the Lyons to just 9 of 29 (31 percent) from the field in the frame to secure its victory. Mathis scored six of his 19 points in the second stanza, while Maldonado and Corcoran added five each. The Blazers also received 16 points off the bench, led by senior forward Austin Sylvia’s (Seekonk, Mass.) four.

Maldonado finished with 14 points, while Corcoran added 12 in the winning effort. Alverio finished with seven points off the bench, while Mathis led the team with eight rebounds.

Coppola netted 14 of his 16 points in the first half, while Degnan also finished with 16 in the contest for the Lyons. Guard PJ Walters (Hempstead, N.Y.) scored 10 points in the second frame and ended with 12 in the losing effort. Forward Cliften Desravines (Somerville, Mass.) was a force on the boards, grabbing a game-high nine rebounds, while Hall finished with three blocks on the night.

Elms concludes the 2009 portion of its schedule when it travels to Husson University on Saturday, Dec. 12. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.