Men's Basketball Clipped by Rhode Island College

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass.- The Elms College men's basketball team dropped a non-conference contest to visiting Rhode Island College, 67-52, at Picknelly Arena Tuesday night.

The opening half of play was back-and-forth play between the squads with seven tied scores and five lead changes. A pair of free throws from senior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) gave the Blazers a 10-6 advantage over the Anchormen with 13:22 on the clock. A 12-3 run from Rhode Island College, powered by seven points from senior forward Chris Burton (New Rochelle, N.Y.), captured a 18-13 lead for the Anchormen at the 9:05 mark of the first half. Six straight free throws from the Blazers chipped away the RIC lead, and put Elms up 19-18 with 7:03 remaining. The Anchormen closed the opening frame on a 10-5 run to take a 28-24 lead into halftime. 

The Blazers cut into their deficit with a pair of jumpers from junior guard Jerry Buchanon (Winsdor, Conn.), followed by two free throws from senior guard DaQuian Youngblood (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to put Elms within a bucket of Rhode Island College, 32-30, with 16:26 to play. The Anchormen put the foot on the gas and pushed their lead into the double digits with a 15-7 run over six-minute span, fueled by 11 points from freshman guard Roosevelt Shider (Meriden, Conn.), to make it a 47-37 game. A three-pointer from Shider at the 5:34 mark gave the Anchormen their largest lead of the contest, 62-43, as Rhode Island College rolled to the 67-52 win.

Buchanon paced the Blazers with a team-high 15 points, shooting 6-of-11 from the field, with two rebounds, while Youngblooded added nine points, three rebounds and two assists. Lockett grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds with eight points, and junior forward Kadar Lynch (Springfield, Mass.) chipped in eight points and seven rebounds. 

Burton netted a game-high 21 points, connecting of 9-of-15 field goals, with six rebounds to lead Rhode Island College. Shider tallied 19 points, converting a game-high five three-pointers, while senior guard Eric Alleyne (Watertown, Mass.) contributed nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The teams finshed even in the rebounding column with 35 boards apiece, while Rhode Island College controlled points in the paint (32-19) and points of turnovers (19-14). Elms shot 28.9% (13-of-45) from the floor, converting just one of ten three-point attempts, and 62.5% (25-of-40) from the foul line. The Anchormen connected on 47.1% (24-of-51) of the field goals, including 40% (6-of-15) from three-point, and 54.2% (13-of-24) from the charity stripe.

The Blazers move to 1-5 on the season, while Rhode Island College improves to 6-1 on the season. Elms will return to action against Wheelock in a road match played at Pine Manor College Thursday night at 8 p.m. The Anchormen will host Eastern Connecticut Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

ELMS BASKETBALL