Men’s Basketball Runs Past Southern Vermont College, 95-56

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) tied for the game-high in points with 18 to lead four Blazers in double figures including freshman forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) and junior center Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.) who scored 16 and 10 points off the bench respectively in a 95-56 victory over Southern Vermont College in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 9-5 overall, 4-1 in NECC play, while Southern Vermont slips to 1-13 on the season, 1-5 in league action.

Elms set the tone early in the first period as French drilled three treys en route to 13 first-half points, while Miller scored all 10 of his points in five minutes of action in the frame.

Elms led by as many as 33 points in the opening stanza before Southern Vermont's Hunter Stratton (Bennington, Vt.) canned a trey – the Mountaineers' lone three-pointer (1 for 7) of the half – at the buzzer to set the score at 49-19 in favor of the Blazers.

As a team, Elms shot 50.0-percent from the field and 40.0-percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes and took advantage of 14 Southern Vermont turnovers which led to 21 points.  The Blazers also held a decisive scoring advantage in the paint (20-8) and Elms' reserves scored 27 points.

Elms held at least a 30-point cushion throughout the second half and built its lead to as many as 43 led by Lockett's 14-point effort in the second period.

Freshman guards Jacob Abel (Fairfield, Calif.) and Piere Simpson (Middletown, Conn.) did a fine job running the Blazers' offense, dishing out three assists each, highlighted by Abel's no-look feed to Lockett who broke through the lane for a sensational dunk. Lockett added five rebounds, while Abel finished with five points.

Junior forward David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) was Elms' fourth player to record double-digit points with 11 while junior forwards Jamal Hulum (Reston, Va.) and Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) added six points apiece in the winning effort.

Miller was Elms' top rebounder hauling in seven boards, while McDaniel picked up six rebounds.

Sophomore guard Dustin Trail (East Hartford, Conn.) added five points and four boards.

The Blazers shot 50.7-percent from the floor for the game, 31.8-percent from three-point range, scored 54 points in the paint and used 60 points off the bench to seal its victory.

Southern Vermont's Taeshon Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.) tied French for the game-high in points with 18 on the strength of 10 of 11 shooting from the free throw line, while Travis Severs (Bennington, Vt.) connected on 4 of 8 from long distance to finish with 16 points.

Stratton and Brandon Johnson (Chatham, N.Y.) totaled seven points each, while Taeshon Johnson collected a game-best nine boards in the losing effort for the Mountaineers.

Elms returns to league play on Thursday, Jan. 19 with a 7:30 p.m. game at Mitchell College.