Accurate Second-Half Shooting Lifts Men’s Basketball Past Newbury College, 84-73

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) netted five three-pointers in the second half and scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Blazers to an 84-73 victory over Newbury 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 overall, 8-2 in league play, while Newbury slips to 7-13 on the season, 6-5 in NECC action.

Leading 50-49 with 10:58 to play in the contest, Cecil Avant hit the first of three straight treys in a 56 second span to give the Blazers a 59-49 lead, and hit his fourth three-pointer at the 7:47 mark to give Elms a 13-point 66-53 cushion. He then connected for his fifth dart from beyond the arc with 6:55 remaining and the Blazers scored six of the next 10 points over the next 3:42 to post a comfortable 18-point 77-59 advantage.

Trailing 81-63 with 1:22 to play, Newbury's Rondell Best (Brockton, Mass.) hit a jumper and a three-pointer by Tim Young (Brockton, Mass.) cut the Nighthawks' deficit to 13 (81-68) with 56 ticks on the clock. Another trey by Young 23 seconds later shrank Elms' lead to 11 (82-71) and a basket underneath by John Rowley Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) settled the score at 82-73 with 20 seconds to play. However, that's as close as Newbury would get as Blazers' freshman forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) and freshman guard Jordan Robinson (Plainsboro, N.J.) each hit the front end of two free throws to help Elms withstand the Nighthawks' comeback attempt and seal an 84-73 victory.

After shooting just 35.3-percent from the field and 27.3-percent from three-point range in the first half, Elms found its rhythm in the second stanza, hitting on 20 of 29 (69-percent) from the floor and a spectacular 7 of 10 (70-percent) from beyond the arc en route to its 11-point win.

Cecil Avant scored his 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field and 5 of 7 from three-point range and contributed seven steals and five assists, while senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) netted 19 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including two treys.

Senior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) added 16 points, while he and Alverio tied for a team-high in rebounds with seven each. Alverio added three blocks, four assists and three steals, while Martinez dished out three assists, swatted two shots and added two steals.  

Rowley Jr. paced the Nighthawks in the loss with a team-high 20 points, while Peterson Bernard (Boston, Mass.) scored 16 points and collected a game-high 10 rebounds. Young swished four three-pointers en route to 14 points.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, Feb. 8 when it hosts league-leading Becker College. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.