Men’s Basketball Powers Past Mitchell College, 93-66

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) scored a game-high 22 points and four Blazers scored in double figures to help seal a 93-66 victory over Mitchell College in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 13-8 overall, 11-1 in NECC play, while Mitchell moves to 10-10 on the season, 6-6 in league action.

Elms shot 44.0-percent from the floor led by an 8 for 15 shooting performance by French who added four treys. Senior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) added 12 points and four steals, while freshmen guards Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) and Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) scored 11 and 10 points each off the bench.

Junior guard Dustin Trail (East Hartford, Conn.) came off the bench to score nine points on 4 of 5 from the field, while junior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) and sophomore forward Kenneth Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds each.

French and Murphy dished out four assists each, and both joined Lockett and Buchanon with three steals.

Mitchell was led by Dylan LaPorta (Amsterdam, N.Y.) who scored 10 points, and Devonta Mosley (Gainesville, Fla.) swished nine points off the bench to lead the Mariners.

Alex Pires (Valhalla, N.Y.) and Anthony Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) added eight points each, while Epps secured a game-best eight rebounds in the losing effort.

After playing to a 10-10 tie in the first 5:20 of the contest, Elms began to pull away, notching its lead to as many as 19 when French hit a jumper with 51 seconds left in the first stanza to give the Blazers a 46-27 cushion at halftime.

In the second half, Pires canned a three-pointer and Mitchell pulled to within 15 on a strike from three-point range by Alex Del Rio (New Britain, Conn.) but that's as close as the Mariners got as Elms continued to apply defensive pressure and maintain its lead.

A jumper by Elms' sophomore guard Tyler Scott (Salem, Ore.) gave the Blazers their largest lead (31 points) at 86-55.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, February 5 when it hosts Southern Vermont College at 6:00 p.m.