Men's Basketball Falls to Becker College, 66-45

LEICESTER, Mass. - Elms College junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) and senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) each scored a team-high 13 points and were both named to the all-tournament team for the second-seeded Blazers but No. 1 Becker College used a game-high 20-point effort from Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) to clinch its first-ever New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship.

With the loss, Elms moves to 17-10 on the season and will await a possible selection to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship on Monday. Becker improves to 23-4 overall and has earned the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Championship.

Becker's Jerome Cohen (Boston, Mass.) scored 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds and was named MVP of the NECC tournament.

After giving up an opening 3-pointer, Becker held Elms scoreless on their next six possessions. The game was extremely physical in the opening minutes, with neither team giving up easy baskets. The Hawks finally found daybreak, using a 7-0 run to take a 15-6 lead with 12:10 left in the opening half, capped off by a 3-pointer from Favors. The Hawks led by as much as 11, a plateau reached first on pair of Favors' free throws and later hit again on a jumper by Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) with the scoreboard showing 21-10 and with 7:34 remaining in the period. The Blazers would rally, cutting the lead to two after a 3-pointer by Gonzalez with 22 seconds left. With exactly two seconds left before halftime, Becker inbounded the ball and Cohen buried a huge three at the buzzer, and the Hawks went into halftime with a 30-25 advantage. French led all scorers at the end of the half with 11 points. 3-point shooting was critical in keeping Elms in the game in the opening period as the Blazers shot 4-of-8 from behind the arc. The Becker defense held Elms to 11.7 percent shooting on the inside, however, giving the Hawks the edge.

Becker scored the first five points of the second half including a big layup from Cohen to take a 10-point lead. Shrugging off the adversity of the opening period, the Hawks went up 14 on a mid-range jumper by Chris Canady (Newark, N.J.). Cohen completed a 16-3 Becker run to start the second with a short jumper with 10:26 as the hosts went up 46-28. The highlight came with 8:16 left in the game when Leggett pulled down the defensive rebound, beating the press with a pass to Canady who found Cohen streaking to the basket for a fast-break layup to put the Hawks up 20, and the Leicester Gym erupted. Becker went up 62-39 when Favors, playing in his final home game at the Leicester Gym, went to the free throw line with 1:26 left and buried two free throws. As he was subbed out, the Becker faithful gave him a rousing ovation. Donovin Ford-Hayes (Windsor Locks, Conn.) put the exclamation point on the game with 39 seconds left when he took a pass from Tyler Roberson (Irvington, N.J.) and slammed it down as the Hawks went up by 23. Moments later, Becker would be celebrating on the court.

Favors finished with a game-high 20 points for the Hawks along with five rebounds and two steals, shooting 3-of-4 from 3-point range. He became Becker's third all-time leading scorer early in the first period, with 1629 points in his storied career. Cohen was a beast inside, shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and piling up a career-high five blocks with two steals, anchoring the Hawk defense. Leggett continued his outstanding play of late with his second straight double-double, scoring 18 points and hauling in ten boards. Canady was a demon on the defensive end, coming away with four steals. Yahmad Rountree (Waterbury, Conn.) added five rebounds and two blocks off the bench.

French and Gonzalez each led the Blazers with 13 points and six rebounds, while freshman forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) added ten points with four boards.