Men’s Basketball Outlasts Newbury College, 84-80

Box Score

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) netted a game-high 23 points to help lift the Blazers to an 84-80 victory over Newbury College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Hellenic College.

With the win, Elms improves to 9-5 on the season, 2-1 in league play, while Newbury slides to 3-11 overall, 2-3 in NECC action.

After establishing an 11-point lead at halftime and extending that lead to as many as 18 (69-51 at the 13:37 mark of the second half), Elms withstood a furious rally by Newbury to hold on for a four-point win.

Peterson Bernard (Boston, Mass.) sparked a 21-2 run when he nailed a jumper at the 13:18 mark of the second half.  Bernard added four more points, Eric Watson (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Tim Young (Brockton, Mass.) netted five, John Rowley Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) added a bucket and Rondell Best (Brockton, Mass.) capped the stretch with a trey to give the Nighthawks a 72-71 lead with 6:13 remaining in the contest.

Elms' senior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) halted the run with a jumper a layup by sophomore guard Brittain Purcell (Tarrytown, N.Y.) and a three-pointer from senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) gave the Blazers a six-point lead before Best answered with another strike from three-point land and Bernard converted a layup to pull Newbury to within one at 78-77 with 2:37 left in the game.

Martinez and Cecil Avant each sank a pair of free throws and Martinez scored another layup to give Elms a seven-point cushion at 84-77 with 30 ticks on the clock before Best fired in his third three-pointer of the half with 16 seconds on the clock to cut the gap to 84-80.

Young lofted a three-point attempt with four seconds to play but it did not go as Alverio came away with his fifth rebound of the contest as Elms held on for a four-point victory.

Cecil Avant handed out a team-high four assists to go with his 23-point effort while Purcelle finished with 16 points. Martinez netted 15 points, while junior guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) and Alverio chipped in with 11 and 10 points respectively to put all five Elms starters in double figures.

Young paved the way for Newbury hitting 5 of 13 from three-point distance and netting 19 points while Bernard and Watson tallied 15 points apiece. Best added 12 points off the bench and tied Watson for the game-high in assists with five.

Bernard cleaned up the glass with a game-high 10 rebounds in the losing effort.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, Jan. 18 when it travels to Southern Vermont College for an 8:00p.m. tip.