Bason’s Layup with Seven Second Left Lifts Men’s Basketball Past Southern Vermont College, 64-62

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Elms College junior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) netted a team-high 17 points, but a layup by senior guard Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) with seven seconds left lifted the Blazers to a thrilling 64-62 victory over Southern Vermont College in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game.

With the win, Elms improves to 2-5 overall, 1-0 in NECC action, while Southern Vermont slips to 0-7 on the season, 0-1 in conference action.

Trailing 31-28 at halftime, Southern Vermont scored 11 of the first 18 points to take a 39-38 lead five minutes into the second stanza, but a layup by Elms' senior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) allowed the Blazers to take the lead again and build its lead to as many as 10 (60-50) with 3:19 to play before the Mountaineers began to chip away at their deficit.

A pair of Travis Severs (Bennington, Vt.) three-pointers, two free throws by Severs and a layup by Taeshon Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.) highlighted a 10-1 run by Southern Vermont before Jermaine Campbell (Bridgeport, Conn.) swished two foul shots to give the Mountaineers a 62-61 lead with 32 seconds left.

Bason then delivered his only points of the game, a layup with seven seconds remaining in regulation that gave Elms a 63-62 triumph.

Elms shot a stellar 47.2-percent from the field as Odunlami hit on 6 of 9 en route to his team-high 17 points, and senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) connected for 6 of 15 from the floor to finish with 16 points.

Hulum added nine points off the bench on a 4 of 6 effort from the field, while Odunlami notched a game-high eight boards in the winning effort. Bason added four assists to direct Elms' attack and senior center Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.) added two blocked shots to go along with six points.

Southern Vermont was led by Johnson who scored a game-high 21 points to lead four Mountaineers in double figures. Severs added 11 points and Campbell and Tarvaris Jenkins (Chicago, Ill.) scored 10 each in the losing effort.

Johnson grabbed six rebounds and Campbell distributed six assists to lead Southern Vermont which shot 47.1-percent from the field and 90-percent from the free throw line.

Elms returns to action on Thursday, December 6 when it hosts Hartwick College in non-conference action at 6:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.