Men’s Basketball Falls to Anna Maria College, 79-68

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Elms College senior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) led all scorers with 19 points and all rebounders with 17, but Anna Maria College shot 51.7-percent from the field to help spark the AMCATS to a 79-68 victory over the Blazers in the consolation men's basketball game of the Hampton Inn Classic hosted by UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, Elms moves to 0-2 overall, while Anna Maria improves to 1-1 on the season.

Anna Maria was led by Hugh Daye (Worcester, Mass.) who scored 11 points, pulled down six boards and recorded six steals in the winning effort. Quantez Franklin (West Yarmouth, Mass.) poured in a team-high 18 points and hauled in a team-best 15 rebounds, while Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) chipped in 15 points.

Blazers' sophomore guard Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) netted 15 points, five assists and seven steals in the game and earned all-tournament team honors. Odunlami generated his 19 points on the strength of 7 of 9 shooting from the stripe, while sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) added 10 points.  

The AMCATS posted a 21-13 lead midway through the first half and with time waning in the stanza, set the score to 38-25 on a rebound and layup by Franklin to give Anna Maria a 13-point lead at the break. 

The AMCATS continued their offensive surge, opening second half action with a 13-3 run capped by a layup from Franklin. Delorey swished his second three-pointer of the game with 7:33 remaining to give Anna Maria a 24-point lead – its largest advantage of the game.

Elms clawed its way back and with under a minute to play, Odunlami cut the deficit to single digits after he converted the back end of a pair of free throws, but that was as close as the Blazers got as the AMCATS pulled away to a 79-68 win.

The Blazers attempted 24 more shots than Anna Maria but where held to just 28.6-percent shooting, while the AMCATS shot a blistering 51.7 percent from the floor.

Elms was also limited to just 13 points off the bench as freshman forward Joshua Brunson (Springfield, Mass.) and sophomore guard Anthony King (Bronx, N.Y.) added seven and six points respectively.

Elm returns to non-conference play when it travels to Keene State College on Tuesday, November 19 for a 7:00 p.m. contest with the Owls.