Washington & Lee University Tops Men’s Basketball, 72-68

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) drained a game-high 25 points but the Blazers' late run was not enough as William & Lee University held on for a 72-68 victory at Picknelly Arena in Friday evening's 2011 Blazer Tip-Off Tournament men's basketball game.

With the loss, Elms falls to 0-1 on the season, while William & Lee improves to 2-0 overall. In the evening's second contest, No. 4 Amherst College (1-0) downed Plymouth State University (1-1), 90-63. The tournament shifts to Amherst and the Ken Wright Memorial Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 19 as Elms will square off against Plymouth State in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. followed by Amherst and Washington & Lee at 3:00 p.m. in the championship game.

Washington & Lee 72, Elms 68

Leading 32-25 at intermission, Washington & Lee built an 11-point, 41-30 lead on a layup by Kyle Bond (Boxborough, Mass.) with 15:49 to play in the second period, and he then sank two free throws to keep the margin in double digits at 45-35 with 13:00 minutes remaining before the Blazers exploded for 11 straight points.

French and senior guard Bryant Corcoran (Waterbury, Conn.) swished back-to-back treys and French added a jumper to pull Elms to within two at 45-43. Senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) missed a three-pointer but freshman guard Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) collected the rebound and dished to Corcoran who drilled the go-ahead triple to give the Blazers a 46-45 lead.

The Blazers never led by more than one point however as the Generals extended its lead back to six on three occasions including a pair of made free throws by Jeremy Adkins (Huntington, W.Va.) to set the score at 70-64 with 29 seconds to play.

Elms' freshman guard Piere Simpson (Middletown, Conn.) delivered a pair of layups to cut the edge to two at 70-68 with 10 seconds on the clock, but a fast-break layup in the paint by Washington & Lee's Kevin Gill (Richmond, Va.) sealed the contest for the Generals.

French hit on 4 of 5 and 5 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc en route to his 25 point output and added six boards and four steals in the losing effort. Corcoran finished with 11 points, eight of which came in the second stanza, while junior forward Jamal Hulum (Reston, Va.) secured a game-high seven rebounds and notched 10 points off the bench for the Blazers.

Bason distributed five assists, while Simpson chipped in eight points.

Washington & Lee was led by Adkins' 24-point effort that saw him shoot 7 of 10 from the floor and 8 of 11 from the free throw stripe. JD Ey (Charlotte, N.C.) was tremendous on the glass hauling in 21 rebounds (18 defensively) for the Generals in addition to adding 16 points.

Bond added 10 points, while Larry Whitaker (Bartlett, Ill.) secured 12 boards in the winning effort.

Amherst 90, Plymouth State 63

Amherst sprinted out to a 51-30 lead at halftime against Plymouth State on the strength of 7 of 11 from three-point (63.6-percent) and connected on 16 of 27 from the field (59.3-percent) to stake its 21 point cushion.

Four of the Lord Jeffs' five starters finished with double figure point totals as Willy Workman (Northampton, Mass.) led all scorers with 18 points. Aaron Toomey (Greensboro, N.C.) and Taylor Barrise (Allendale, N.J.) registered 12 points each as all 12 of Barrise's came by way of the three-pointer.

David Waller (Tampa, Fla.) added 11 points and five rebounds while Peter Kaasila (Plaistow, N.H.) also hauled in five boards and chipped in seven points.

Plymouth State was led by Petey Skevas (Wethersfield, Conn.) who scored 15 points, while Brian Chergey (Bow, N.H.) netted 10 in the losing effort.

Jesse Sabolis (Stoughton, Mass.) and Shomari Morgan (Manchester, N.H.) added nine apiece.