Men’s Basketball Falls to Plymouth State University, 82-74

AMHERST, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) connected for 25 points for the second straight game and was named to the all-tournament team but Plymouth State University's Petey Skevas (Wethersfield, Conn.) led four Panthers in double figures with 24 points to help lift Plymouth State to a 82-74 victory in the consolation game of the Ken Wright Memorial Invitational men's basketball tournament hosted by Amherst College.

With the loss, Elms slips to 0-2 to start its season, while Plymouth State improves to 2-1 overall.

In the opening 8:04, Elms posted a 12-7 lead before Plymouth State used a layup by Kevin Cressy (Penacook, N.H.) to spark a 21-4 run by the Panthers over the next nine minutes to give Plymouth State a 28-16 advantage.

A three-pointer by French with 3:08 remaining in the period halted the run while junior forward Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) hit the front-end of two free throws, and junior guard James Black (Baltimore, Md.) sank two free throws to pull Elms to within six at 28-22 with 2:00 minutes to play.

The Panthers responded when Skevas delivered a layup and converted the and-one foul shot to extend the lead back to nine  (31-22) as Plymouth State closed out the half on a 7-0 run.

Plymouth State kept a double-digit edge throughout the first half of the second frame and led by as many as 20 points (55-35 at the 11:26 mark) before Elms began to chip away at the lead.

Junior guard Walter Mfuko (Amherst, Mass.) swished a trey to start a Blazers' run that pulled them to within 12 at 57-45 with 9:13 left in the game.

Following a trey by Plymouth State's Jesse Sabolis (Stoughton, Mass.), Elms used a 16-5 run highlighted by three-pointers from French and senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) to help the Blazers narrow the gap to four at 65-61 with 3:47 remaining in the contest.

From there, Skevas was a stellar 10 for 10 from the free throw stripe as the Panthers outlasted Elms' final rally effort that featured a pair of freshman guard Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) layups, a dunk by junior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) and a three-pointer each from French and Gonzalez as Plymouth State secured an eight-point 82-74 victory.

French added four assists, four steals and five rebounds to his 25-point output, while Gonzalez was 3 of 9 from beyond the arc off the bench to finish with 13 points.

Bason added eight points, Griffin collected a team-best six boards and Hulum added six points in the loss for Elms.

The Panthers were a sizzling 24 of 28 from the free throw stripe paced by Skevas' 14 for 15 showing at the line. He added a game-high 11 rebounds and passed out six assists, while Stephan Roberts added 14 points and six boards.

Sabolis netted 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field, while Mark MacGregor (Rochester, N.H.) followed with 10 points (including 4 of 5 foul shots) to lift Plymouth State to victory.

Elms returns to non-conference play on Tuesday, Nov. 22 when it travels to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with the Engineers.