Men’s Basketball Powers Past Regis College, 77-68

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) poured in a game-high 21 points to lead four Blazers in double figures as Elms powered past Regis College, 77-68 in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 6-8 overall, 4-2 in NECC play, while Regis moves to 3-10 on the season 3-2 in league action.

Elms shot 53.8-percent from the floor and 73.9-percent from the stripe, led by Odunlami's 9 for 11 showing at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) and freshman forward Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) each scored 18 points and guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) finished with 12 to round out four Blazers in double figures.

Junior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) tied for the team high in rebounds with nine along with Odunlami who also grabbed nine boards. Ihearahu finished with seven rebounds and Lockett added six points.

French dished out a game-high six assists and Odunlami followed with five. Elms outscored Regis, 16-3 on points off turnovers and also outscored the Pride in second chance points, 16-6.

Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) led Regis in scoring with 18 points and collected a game-best 10 rebounds. Osanto Marc Jr. (Kissimmee, Fla.) netted 14 points and Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) contributed 11 points for the Pride which shot 47.5-percent from field and 38.5-percent from the three-point line. Peana also tallied a game-high six assists while Marc Jr. dished out four helpers.

In a back-and-forth contest that featured stellar shooting by both teams, Regis built a seven point lead (25-18) on a Peana layup at the 9:07 mark of the first stanza to give the Pride its largest lead of the contest.

Elms battled back and took a 34-33 lead with 36 seconds left in the half on the second of Murphy's three treys, but a Jean-Gilles layup with four ticks on the clock allowed Regis to post a 35-34 lead at intermission.

In the second half, Regis maintained a slim cushion but could never run its lead to more than seven points. The Blazers, trailing 51-50 with 12:40 to play used a swish from long distance by French to take a 53-51 lead and a jumper by Lockett at the 11:44 mark extended Elms' lead to 55-51.

Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) drained a triple and Marc Jr. powered in a layup with just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest to give Regis the lead once again.

With the score knotted at 60-60 with 6:55 to play, Elms went on a 13-2 run highlighted by seven consecutive made free throws to give the Blazers a 73-62 lead with 1:23 on clock.

A dunk by Lockett set the score at 77-65 with 35 seconds left giving Elms its largest advantage of the game before a trey by Jean-Gilles set the final score at 77-68.

Elms returns to NECC action on Thursday, January 16 at Mitchell College at 5:00 p.m.