Second Half Charge Leads Men's Basketball Past Springfield College

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's basketball team registered their first victory of the season with an 81-66 win over visiting Springfield College in a non-conference matchup at Picknelly Arena Thursday night. The Blazers improve to 1-3 on the season, while the Pride drops to 1-2 overall.

The Blazers held an early advantage over the Pride in the opening minutes. A layup from Elms junior Symon Smith (Oklahoma City, Okla.) made it a 15-11 game at the 13:40 mark, but Springfield grabbed their first lead, 16-15, after two free throws from sophomore Steven Young (Hanson, Mass.). Leading 27-26, the Blazers began to pull away with an 11-2 run, featuring five points from Elms senior Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) to push ahead 38-28 with 1:46 remaining in the half. A three-point play from Springfield senior Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) in the final minute cut the Blazers advantage to 38-31 heading into halftime.

The Blazers offense stormed out of the break, opening the half on 13-4 run, powered by nine points by Buchanon, in span of two minutes to make it a 51-35 game with 18:00 on the clock. A pair of free throws from senior Kadar Lynch (Springfield, Mass.) gave the Blazers their largest lead of the contest, 60-39 with 11:22 to play. The Pride whittled away at the Elms lead, orchestrating a 26-13 run over the next nine minutes, and a pair of free throws from Downes brought Springfield within single digits, 73-65, at the 2:10 mark. The Blazers halted the Pride's efforts down the stretch, and Smith knocked down four free throws to send the Elms to the 81-66 victory.

Buchanon led all scorers with a game-high 33 points, shooting 11-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-8 from three-point range, with a game-high four steals and three rebounds. Smith netted a season-high 15 points with three rebounds, while junior Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior Joshua Brunson (Springfield, Mass.) added eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Downes paced the Pride with a team-high 23 points, connecting on 8-of-13 attempts, with two assists. Senior Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) logged a double-double effort with a game-high 13 rebounds and 12 points. Graduate Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) tallied 14 points and six rebounds in the loss.

Springfield edged the Blazers in rebounding, 41-39, during the contest. Elms converted 45.6% (26-of-57) from the floor, including 43.8% (7-of-16) from three-point, and 81.5% (22-of-27) from the foul line. The Pride shot 35.9% (23-of-64) from the field, 30% (6-of-20) from three-point, and 56% (14-of-25) from the free throw stripe.

The Blazers will look to remain in the win column when they travel to Babson College for a non-conference tilt Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Springfield host Trinity (Conn.) Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

ELMS BASKETBALL