Men’s Basketball Edges Southern Vermont College, 73-70

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Elms College guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) and junior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) netted a team-high 18 points each as the Blazers powered past Southern Vermont College, 73-70 in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game in Bennington, Vt.

With the win, Elms improves to 8-10 overall, 6-3 in NECC action, while Southern Vermont moves to 12-6 overall, 6-3 in conference play.

In a game that was tightly contested throughout, Southern Vermont held a slim 65-62 edge with 5:50 to play following a free throw by Eddie Mack III (Hartford, Conn.). French then swished a pair of foul shots 19 seconds later to pull the Blazers to within one at 65-64 before Lockett converted a layup with 4:24 to give Elms a 66-65 advantage.

Elms' sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) added bucket underneath to extend the lead to 68-65 before Blair Manners (Auckland, New Zealand) pulled down an offensive rebound and made the put-back to pull the Mountaineers to within one at 68-67 with 2:11 on the clock.

Lockett and freshman forward Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) added two-point baskets to give the Blazers a 72-67 lead but Southern Vermont used a jumper by Izzy Melton (Silver Spring, Md.) and a free throw by Brandon Casella (Pittsfield, Mass.) to narrow the deficit to 72-70 with 14 ticks on the clock.

Murphy hit the front end of two free throws and Elms forced Southern Vermont into a missed three-pointer with four seconds left to hang on for a thrilling 73-70 victory.

French and Lockett led the Blazers with 18 points, while senior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) managed the only double-double of the contest netting 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Murphy ended the night with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Lockett added eight boards, three assists, a block and a steal to his line. Elms shot 38.3-percent (23 for 60) on the evening but was able to limit its turnovers to just 11 compared to Southern Vermont's 15. The Blazers turned those Mountaineer giveaways into 17 points while Southern Vermont scored just 10 off the Blazers' mishaps.

Mack III scored a game-high 22 points on 5 of 8 shooting from three-point distance. Manners finished with 12 points, nine boards and two blocks while Melton had another 12 points off the bench. Antoine White (Germantown, Md.) had a game-high eight assists to go along with six rebounds.

The Mountaineers shot at a 41.7-percent clip (25 for 60) for the game including 8 of 21 (38.1-percent) from three-point range.

In the first half, Southern Vermont raced out to a 14-6 lead but Elms answered with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 15-14 lead. From there, the sides battled to six tie scores and 12 lead changes before Lockett hit the back-end of two free throws on two occasions late in the half to help the Blazers stake a 41-39 lead at intermission.

In the second stanza, the Mountaineers led by as many as eight on a dunk by Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Md.) but a 9-1 run by Elms highlighted by seven points from French knotted the game at 60-60 with 8:37 to play in regulation.

Southern Vermont took a brief lead on a pair of layups by Manners, but the Blazers again fought back working their way to the free throw line. A Lockett layup put Elms back in front, this time for good, at 66-65, and the Blazers never trailed the rest of the way.

Elms returns to NECC action on Tuesday, January 28 when it welcomes Newbury College for a 7:00 p.m. contest at Picknelly Arena.