Men's Basketball to Host Becker College

The Matchup: Becker College Hawks (6-4 overall, 1-0 NECC) at Elms College Blazers (7-4 overall, 2-0 NECC)
Date: Tuesday, January 10
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Site: Picknelly Arena (Chicopee, Mass.)
Click here for directions to Elms College
Click here for live stats

All-Time Series: Elms College leads the all-time series with Becker College, 22-10 dating back to the 1998-99 season.

Last Meeting: After being swept during the 2010-11 regular season, Elms posted a 79-65 victory over Becker in the league tournament title game to win the Blazers' seventh consecutive conference championship and earn its sixth trip to the NCAA Division III Championship in seven years.

Setting The Scene: Elms enters Tuesday's midweek tilt with Becker having won four straight games and seven of its last eight and are sitting atop the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) standings with a 7-4 overall record (2-0 in league play). The Hawks, who have only played one conference game, are second in the standings with a season record of 6-4 (1-0 in the NECC).

Scouting The Hawks: Becker comes to Chicopee, Mass. having won four of its last five games but are looking to rebound from a 74-65 setback in its last outing. The Hawks, led offensively by Terrance Favors' (Boston, Mass.) 18.4 points per game, have three players averaging double-digit points through 10 games. Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) follows with 15.8 points per game and has also amassed a team-high 99 rebounds, while Jerome Cohen (Boston, Mass.) has scored 11.8 points per contest so far in 2011-12. Becker also enters Tuesday's showdown looking to extend its nation's-best in-conference win streak to 21 straight games. The streak is the longest current stretch in NCAA Division III.

Scouting The Blazers: The Blazers take the court looking to build off its impressive 68-49 showing against Lesley University on Jan. 7 and extend its winning streak to five games. Elms, which averages 67.5 points per game (65.0 points per game in league play) was led by junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) who scored 14 points in the win over the Lynx. Senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) was electric off the bench, scoring 13 points on the strength of 5 for 8 shooting from the floor in 16 minutes of action, while junior guard Walter Mfuko (Amherst, Mass.) contributed nine points in 10 minutes off the bench. The Blazers also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Lesley 48-28 behind a game-high 10 rebounds from junior forward David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) and seven boards from junior forward Jamal Hulum (Reston, Va.).

Chasing 200: Blazers' head coach Ed Silva, now in his 11th season at the helm, has recorded 195 wins during his time at Elms and is just five victories shy of the 200-win milestone.  

Keeping Track Of Blazers' Athletics: For the latest news, notes and statistics visit athletics.elms.edu or call the office of sports information at (413) 265-2440. Fans can now follow the Blazers on Facebook and on live stats!