Mitchell College Outlasts Men’s Basketball, 94-86

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Elms College guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) netted a team-high 20 points but Mitchell College used a game-high 23-point effort from Joshua Ford (Jersey City, N.J.) and a 22-point showing from Parris Hill (Stockton, Calif.) to help the Mariners hold on to a 94-86 victory in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game in New London, Conn.

With the loss, Elms moves to 6-9 on the season, 4-3 in conference action, while Mitchell improves to 10-3 on the season, and remains unbeaten in NECC action at 7-0.

In a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes of action, both teams registered stellar shooting percentages with Elms hitting on 48.6-percent of its shots compared to Mitchell netting 47.1-percent of its attempts from the field.

French led all scorers with 13 points in the half, while freshman forward Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) added 10 points and four blocked shots. Both French and sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) dished out three assists each in the frame, while junior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) pulled down six rebounds.

Mitchell used 10 points from Ford, nine from Anthony Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) and eight from Hill to pace the Mariners to a 42-39 lead at intermission.

Elms started the contest on a 5-0 run and extended its lead to as many as eight (19-11) following a layup by Ihearahu, before Mitchell narrowed the gap and took the lead on a pair of free throws by Hector Aleman (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) to set the score at 38-36 with 2:17 to play in the stanza.

Murphy answered with a triple for Elms, but layups by Aleman and Damion Hewitt (Hartford, Conn.) allowed the Mariners to a take a three-point lead into the halftime break.

In the second half, Mitchell increased its lead to as many as nine (68-59) on a Ford layup at the 11:34 mark and again on Hill dunk a minute later to set the score at 70-61.

Elms answered by scoring 12 of the next 18 points to pull to within three (76-73) capped by a layup by senior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) at the 6:13 mark. Mitchell's Alex Pires (Valhalla, N.Y.) then swished a three-pointer to start an 11-1 run that set the score to 87-74 with 3:13 remaining in the game.

Back-to-back strikes from beyond the arc by French and Murphy narrowed the Mariners' lead to seven at 87-80, and a jumper by Ihearahu with just over one minute remaining in the contest shrunk the gap to 90-86. However, Frank Martin (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Alex Del Rio (New Britain, Conn.) each made a pair of free throws in the final 50 seconds to help Mitchell seal its 94-86 victory.

French finished with 20 points, Odunlami followed with 19 and Murphy and Ihearahu each scored 18 to give the Blazers four starters in double figures. Lockett finished with nine points and tied for the game-high in rebounds with 11 while Odunlami totaled eight boards.

Mitchell was led by Ford and Hill who totaled 23 and 22 points respectively, while Del Rio and Epps tallied 14 and 12 points each.

Ford tied for the game-high in boards with 11, while Hill and Hewitt pulled down 10 rebounds apiece.

Elms held a slight advantage in shooting percentage (48.6 to 48.4), while the Mariners out-rebounded the Blazers, 44-30.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, January 18 when it hosts Becker College at 1:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.