Men’s Basketball Falls to No. 20 Albertus Magnus College, 113-97

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Elms College guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) scored a team-high 23 points and all five Blazers' starters scored in double figures, but No. 20 Albertus Magnus College notched a 113-97 victory in Wednesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game in New Haven, Conn.

With the loss, Elms moves to 7-10 on the season, while Albertus Magnus improves to 14-1 overall.

French swished three three-pointers and dished out a season-high nine assists as the Blazers shot 42.9-percent from the floor. Junior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) totaled 19 points each, while they finished with 10 and nine rebounds each respectively.

Senior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) scored 18 points and freshman forward Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) followed with 11 points. Elms shot 88.5-percent from the free throw line hitting on 23 of 26 from the stripe highlighted by Lockett's 6 for 6 effort.

Albertus Magnus was led by a game-high 26-point and game-best 15-rebound effort from Victor Ljuljdjuraj (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.). Eian Davis (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kyle Wiggins (Milford, Conn.) added 22 and 21 points respectively, while James Jennings (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Marcus Walker (Newark, N.J.) poured in 18 and 11 points apiece to give the Falcons five players in double figures.

Davis finished with nine assists and six boards, while Walker added 12 rebounds off the bench in the winning effort. Wiggin canned five treys and Ljuljdjuraj swatted four shots.

Albertus Magnus opened the game scoring nine of the first 13 points before Elms battled back to keep the game close. The Blazers tied the score at 19-19 on a three-pointer by Lockett before taking a two-point lead on a Lockett free throw. After tying the score for the sixth time in the stanza at 25-25, the Falcons pushed out to a seven-point advantage with 6:01 left in the half.

For a span of 2:39, Albertus Magnus held Elms without a field goal and increased its lead to 17 points with 2:21 left on the clock. At the break, the Falcons held a 56-43 edge on the strength of 21 points off the bench compared to zero reserve points from the Blazers.

The second frame featured stellar offensive play from both sides but the Falcons were able to run their lead to as many as 20 points with 9:04 left in regulation and pulled away to the 113-97 victory.

Elms is back in conference action on Saturday, January 25 at Southern Vermont College at 4:00 p.m. in Bennington, Vt.