Mitchell Escapes Men's Basketball in Overtime

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Elms College men's basketball team came up one bucket short, falling to host Mitchell College, 94-91 in overtime, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) contest at the Yarnall Athletic Center Saturday afternoon. The Blazers move to 9-9 on the season, and 7-3 in NECC play, while Mitchell improved to 5-4 in conference, and 7-9 overall.

Tied 4-4 after the opening minute of play, the Mariners took an early lead behind a 12-4 run, featuring four points from freshman Domenico Santiago (Port St. Lucie, Fla.), over the next five minutes to build a 16-8 lead. The Blazers battled back as junior Symon Smith (Oklahoma City, Okla) canned a pair of three-pointers, followed by back-to-back buckets from senior Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) to even the score at 20-20 with 12:08 on the clock. Consecutive baskets from sophomore Alan Morgan (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) handed the Mariners a 30-25 advantage, but a trey from sophomore Chris Ceus (Santaluces, Fla.) put Elms within two, 30-28. A layup from Santiago at the 3:47 mark capped a 12-5 run by Mitchell to push the Mariners lead to 42-33. The Blazers used a 12-6 run in the final minutes off the half to close the gap to 48-45 heading into the intermission.

Buchanon kicked off the second half with five straight points to knot the game at 50-50. Free throws regained a 54-50 lead for Mitchell, but Elms grabbed the lead as Buchanon netted five more points to take a 55-54 advantage. The Mariners took back the lead on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes, but a 6-0 run by the Blazers kept things even at 64-64. Mitchell paced the Blazers behind five straight points from senior Donovan McClean (Jersey City, N.J.). Elms junior Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) gave the Blazers the lead on jumpers at the 8:25 and 6:29 marks, followed by a three-pointer from Smith to regain an 80-78 lead for Elms. A layup from Santiago tied it at 80-80, and a jumper from Mitchell senior Parris Hill (Stockton, Calif.) put the Mariners ahead 82-81 with 26 seconds to play. Buchanon knocked down a jumper to hand Elms an 83-82 lead, but McClean drew a foul, earning a trip to foul line with five seconds to play. McClean connected on his first free throw, but missed the second, sending the contest into overtime tied at 83-83.

The overtime period was back-and-forth from the jump with a layup from Santiago putting the Mariners up 87-85, but the Blazers responded as Ihearahu blocked a jumper from McClean and finished a thunderous alley-op on the other end to knot the game at 87-87 with 2:37 remaining. Tied 89-89, the Blazers had two chances to grab the lead but came up short on shots in the paint, and Hill converted two free throws to put Mitchell ahead 91-89. With Elms forced to foul, Mitchell senior Frank Martin (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) connected on three-of-four chances from the line, giving the Mariners a 94-91 lead with six second to play. A last-second three-pointer from Buchanon was off the mark, as Mitchell collected the 94-91 win.

The Blazers had three scorers reach the 20-point plateau, led by Buchanon with a team-high 29 points, along with seven rebounds and a game-high six assists. Smith tallied 21 points with a career-high eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ihearahu netted 20 points with six rebounds and two blocks.

Mitchell was paced by a 20-20 performance from Santiago with 23 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. Hill notched a double-double with a game-high 32 points and 10 rebounds, while McClean added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Martin recorded 13 points, and Morgan dished out six assists in the win.

The Mariners controlled the rebounding category, 46-36, during the contest. The Blazers connected on 45.2% (33-of-73) from the floor, including 47.4% (9-of-19) from three-point range, and 80% (16-of-20) from the free throw line. Mitchell shot 51.4% (37-of-72) from the field, 16.7% (2-of-12) from three-point, and 69.2% (18-of-26) from the foul line.

The Blazers will look to return to their winning way with a home conference game against Daniel Webster at Picknelly Arena Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Mitchell travels to Regis (Mass.) in conference action Thursday at 8:00 p.m.

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