Wheelock Rallies Past Men's Basketball

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's basketball team fell to visiting Wheelock College, 89-85, in their 2015-16 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener at Picknelly Arena. The Blazers fall to 2-5 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while Wheelock improved to 1-0 in the NECC and 1-4 overall.

The Blazers controlled the scoreboard early as a three-point play from junior Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) gave Elms a 9-3 advantage with 16:02 on the clock. Senior Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around a trey from sophomore Andre Wright (Danbury, Conn.) to push the Blazers lead to 24-12 after the opening eight minutes. A free throw from senior Kadar Lynch (Springfield, Mass.) gave Elms their largest lead of the game, 37-22, at the 6:55 mark. The Wildcats turned the tides, closing the half on a 16-7 run to cut the Blazers lead to 44-38 at the half.

The Blazers rebuild a double-digit lead in the opening minutes of the second half as Buchanon knocked down two free throws to put Elms up 53-42. The Wildcats finally evened the score at 57-57 on a three-pointer from junior Devin Brown (Chicago, Ill.) at the 15:07 mark. A three-pointer from Wheelock junior guard Nicholas Fenton (East Hartford, Conn.) capped off a 13-3 run by the Wildcats to take a 70-60 lead. The Blazers chipped away at their deficit for the next four minutes, and a fastbreak dunk from Lynch knotted the score at 74-74 with 5:28 on the clock. The squads traded the lead over the next two minutes and found themselves tied at 85-85 with a minute to play. After a missed layup by Elms, the Wildcats looked to take the lead on the final possession of the game. With two seconds to play, Fenton drew a double-team and found junior Anthony Williams (White Plains, N.Y.) wide open in the paint for the game-winning layup, sending the Wildcats to their first victory over Elms since the 2011-12 season with an 89-85 victory.

The Blazers had five scorers in double-digits, led by Buchanon with a game-high 27 points, shooting 9-of-19 from the floor, with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior Symon Smith (Oklahoma City, Okla.) tallied 19 points with three rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Ihearahu notched his third double-double of the season with a game-high 14 rebounds and 11 points. Lynch added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Wright netted 10 points and two assists off the bench.

Five Wildcats reached double-digit point totals, led by Williams with 22 points, shooting 9-of-11 from the floor, with eight rebounds. Fenton recorded a double-double with a game-high 12 assists with 15 points and six rebounds. Freshman Dejuan Rodriguez (New Britain, Conn.) chipped in 18 points and six rebounds off the bench. Junior Derek Fournier (Johnston, R.I.) connected on four three-pointers from 12 points, while Brown added 10 points in the win.

The Blazers edged the Wildcats on the glass, 40-36, during the contest. Elms shot 49.2% (31-of-63) from the field, including 42.9% (6-of-14) from three-point range, and 58.6% (17-of-29) from the foul line. Wheelock connected on 51.6% (33-of-64) from the floor, 37.5% (9-of-24) from three-point, and 56% (14-of-25) from the free throw line.

The Blazers will look to return to the win column with a home NECC tilt against Mitchell College at Picknelly Arena at 1:00 p.m. The Wildcats will head to Lasell College for a non-conference game Thursday, December 8^th at 7:00 p.m.

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