Men’s Basketball Tops Immaculata University, 70-57

READING, Pa. – Elms College senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) scored a game-high 19 points to help the Blazers post a 70-57 win over Immaculata University in Saturday evening's non-conference men's basketball game in second day action of the Albright Wyndham-Reading Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Albright College.

With the win, Elms improves to 1-1 on the season and head coach Todd Dean earns his first victory at the helm of the Blazers' men's basketball program. With the loss, Immaculata falls to 0-2 on the season.

In the opening frame, Elms and Immaculata played to a 9-9 tie when Blazers' senior guard James Black (Baltimore, Md.) drove to the hoop for a basket at the 14:23 mark. Elms then exploded for 13 of the next 14 points capped by a three-pointer from French with less than eight minutes to play in the stanza. The Mighty Mac's Nelson Torres (Marlton, N.J.) converted a layup at the 7:39 mark to halt the run with the score set at 22-10.

Immaculata battled back to pull to within five at 28-23 with less than a minute remaining in the half, but a pair of free throws by Elms' senior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) with 44 seconds left and a bucket by sophomore guard Piere Simpson (East Hartford, Conn.) allowed the Blazers to take a 32-23 lead into intermission.

French and Torres led all scorers with eight points each in the first 20 minutes, while Elms' senior forward Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) hauled in six rebounds and Hulum secured five boards as the two combined for 11 of the team's 19 rebounds in the half.

Fifty-three seconds into second half, the Blazers picked up where they left off as sophomore forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) who finished with five points in the game, delivered a dunk to keep Elms' run going.

A pair of TJ Klinger (Audubon, Pa.) free throws at the 18:42 mark pulled the Mighty Macs to within seven at 34-27, and an Adam Jones (Blue Bell, Pa.) bucket with 12:24 to play narrowed Immaculata's gap to six (47-41) but that's as close as the Mighty Macs would get.

Elms led by as many as 17 (66-49) with 5:53 remaining in the contest when senior forward David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) hit a jumper, and French sealed the 13-point victory with his seventh and eighth made free throws of the game. For his efforts, French was named to the all-tournament team. 

McDaniel and senior guard Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) finished with nine points each, and Griffin pulled in a team-high nine boards in the winning effort.

Elms shot 31.3-percent from the field and edged Immaculata in rebounds, 50-47.

The Mighty Macs were led by Torres who collected 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor. Brandon Smith (Philadelphia, Pa.) notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Jones finished with nine points as Immaculata shot 38.5-percent for the game.

Elms will host Keene State College on Tuesday, Nov. 20 in its 2012 home opener at 7:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena in non-conference action.