Gonzalez Nets 29 as Men’s Basketball Downs Marymount University, 74-67

ARLINGTON, Va. – Elms College senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) netted a game-best 29 points off the bench on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor including five three-pointers to help lift the Blazers to a 74-67 victory over Marymount University in Monday evening's non-conference men's basketball game at Verizon Sports Arena in Arlington, Va.

With the win, Elms improves to 5-4 overall, while Marymount drops to 3-7 on the season.

Trailing 15-12 with 9:42 to play in the first period, Elms' junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) nailed a trey to ignite an 11-0 run that gave the Blazers a 23-15 lead. Marymount's Reed Scott (Ellicott City, Md.) hit the back end of two free throws to delay the run momentarily at the 6:47 mark but a layup by junior guard James Black (Baltimore, Md.) got Elms back on track as the Blazers scored 18 of the final 30 points of the first half to open up a 41-28 lead at intermission.

Elms' final push of the first 20 minutes featured 11 points from Gonzalez, including a swish from beyond the arc, and five points from French who also canned a three-pointer.

The Blazers shot at a stellar 46.7 clip from the field in the opening stanza, including a sweltering 44.4-percent from three-point range, while Elms limited the Saints to just 33.3-percent shooting from the field.

Following the break, Marymount held Elms scoreless over the first six minutes of the second half and without a field goal until the 12:50 mark as the Saints pulled even with the Blazers at 41-41 on a Scott layup.

A free throw by junior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) sparked a run of 14 unanswered points by Elms, highlighted by a pair of Gonzalez triples to increase the Blazers' lead back to double digits at 55-41 with just over 10 minutes to play in the game. 

The Saints clawed back to pull to within five at 62-57 when John Magnani (Great Mills, Md.) converted one of two foul shots, but that's as close as Marymount would get as the Blazers made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to seal its seven point victory.

French finished with 14 points, while Hulum scored 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the floor to give Elms three players in double figures.

Black added a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench and scored six points, while junior guard Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) dished out seven assists in the winning effort.

Jesse Konadu (Alexandria, Va.) scored a team-high 16 points, while Scott finished with 14 points and a game-high 15 boards in the loss. Antonio Rouse (Woodbridge, Va.) and Magnani totaled 13 and 11 points respectively to give the Saints four starters with double-digit point totals.

Elms shot 40.4-percent from the field for the contest and 41.2-percent from long distance, while Marymount was limited to 36.0-percent shooting for the game.

The Blazers bench was tremendous, outscoring Marymount 38-12, while Elms added 28 points in the paint to the Saints' 16. The Blazers also capitalized on 19 Saints' turnovers turning those miscues into 29 points.

Elms returns to action following the intersession on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 when it hosts Castleton State College in a non-conference contest set for 5:30 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.