Men’s Basketball Downs UMass-Dartmouth, 82-69

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) delivered a team-high 18 points and recorded seven steals, and senior forward David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) hit on 8 of 12 free throws en route to 14 points and totaled a game-best 11 rebounds in the Blazers' 82-69 non-conference victory over UMass-Dartmouth on Thursday evening at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 9-8 overall, while UMass-Dartmouth falls to 3-14 on the season.

Trailing 54-35 with 15:02 left in the contest, UMass-Dartmouth stormed back using a 14-0 run in less than four minutes to pull to within five at 54-49 with 10:10 on the clock. Jake Laga (Northampton, Mass.) made three layups, Wale Abraham (Lynn, Mass.) added a jumper and a fast-break dunk, and Jacek Louisville (Worcester, Mass.) capped the run with a pair of free throws and a jumper.

Elms' senior guard James Black (Baltimore, Md.) made two foul shots to stop the Corsairs' surge, but Aven Jones (Beverly, Mass.) secured an offensive rebound on a shot by Abi Akanni (Fitchburg, Mass.) to set the score at 56-51 with 9:29 to play.

UMass-Dartmouth narrowed its deficit to four when Laga drained a three-pointer with 5:44 remaining in the game to set the score at 64-60, but Blazers' senior center Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.) and junior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) combined to make three free throws to set the score at 67-60 with under five minutes on the clock.

Following two swishes from the line by the Corsairs' Mike Rotando (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) to bring the score back to five (67-62), Elms converted 7 of 8 from the line including 4 for 4 from McDaniel to extend the lead to 74-62 with 3:15 remaining in the game.

From there, the Blazers outscored UMass-Dartmouth, 8-7 to seal the 82-69 victory.

Elms outrebounded the Corsairs 49-39, led by McDaniel's 11 boards, while senior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) was terrific off the bench, scoring 12 points and adding nine rebounds to go along with three blocked shots.

Sophomore forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) helped Elms to a 36.6-percent shooting clip after netting nine points on 4 of 8 attempts from the field, while Odunlami added eight points. Sophomore guard Piere Simpson (East Hartford, Conn.) dished out four assists and added three swipes, while French was 7 of 7 from the charity stripe and picked up seven steals in the winning effort.

Laga struck for three three-pointers and totaled a game-best 19 points, while Eleazar Clayton (Boston, Mass.) and Abraham punched in 10 points apiece. Akanni and Abraham combined for seven of the team's 11 blocked shots (4 and 3 respectively), and Alex Rodrigues (Fall River, Mass.) and Jones added two swats each.

As a team, UMass-Dartmouth shot 42.6-percent from the floor, Rodrigues secured a team-high nine boards, followed by eight rebounds by Akanni and Louisville dished out four helpers in the losing effort for the Corsairs.

In the opening 20 minutes, UMass-Dartmouth fought back from a 12-point deficit with 10:39 to play in the frame to stake a 29-28 lead on a jumper by Clayton, before Elms rallied to take a 40-33 lead into the halftime break.

Hulum finished with 10 points in the opening stanza for the Blazers, while the Corsairs used a 10-point effort from Clayton and Laga in the half.

Elms is back in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action on Saturday, January 26 at 8:30 p.m. at Lesley University.