Men's Basketball Falls Short Against Rhode Island College

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's basketball squad mounted a second-half comeback, but fell short against visiting Rhode Island College, 94-84, in a non-conference clash at Picknelly Arena Thursday night. The Blazers move to 1-9 on the season, while the Anchormen sit at 6-6 overall. 

Tied 2-2 after the opening minutes, the Anchormen used a three-pointer from freshman Jonatan Batista (Providence, R.I.) to push ahead 7-2, but back-to-back treys from Elms senior Symon Smith (Oklahoma City, Okla.) trimmed the deficit to 9-8 at the 15:58 mark. Just over two minutes later, RIC junior Roosevelt Shider (Providence, R.I.) jarred a three-pointer to extend the lead to 15-10, but the Blazers responded with five straight points from senior Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) and a three-pointer from classmate Trifon Bish (St. Catherine, Jamaica) to make it a one possession game, 19-18. After a trey from Smith brought the Blazers within two points, 25-23, the Anchormen used a 15-7 run over the next five minutes, featuring six points from sophomore Benjamin Vezele (Providence, R.I.) to expand the gap to 40-30. Rhode Island College closed the opening frame on a 12-4 run behind seven points from Vezele to take a 52-34 lead into the break. 

The Anchormen carried their momentum into the second half, using a 7-3 run over the opening three minutes, capped by a trey from junior Jovel Beckford (Providence, R.I.) to give RIC their largest lead of the game, 59-37. After back-to-back three-pointers from Shider extended the Anchormen lead to 76-55, the Blazers began to rally as freshman Jared Kyle (Plantation, Fla.) canned a pair of jumpers to ignite a 22-4 run by Elms over the next seven minutes. Elms freshman DeAngelo Cousar (Bowie, Md.) knocked down a jumper to whittle the gap to single digits, and then received a feed from Ihearahu on a slash in the paint for a layup at the 4:27 mark to put Elms within one possession, 80-77. RIC halted the Blazers run with a 6-0 run to regain an 86-77 lead with 2:44 to play. A three-pointer from Smith cut the Anchormen advantage to 87-82 at the 1:36 mark, but RIC maintained their lead with a 7-2 in the final minutes to seal the 94-84 win.

Four Blazers scorers reached double figures, led by Smith with a team-high 21 points, connecting on five three-pointers, with three rebounds and three assists. Cousar netted a career-high 18 points with seven rebounds, while Ihearahu registered his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Kyle filled the stat sheet off the bench, setting career-high in points (10), rebounds (4), assists (3), and steals (2).

Vezele powered the Anchormen in the win with a double-double, registering game-high in points and rebounds with 23 and 13, respectively. Beckford added 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Justin Campbell had 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench in the win.

The squads finished even in the rebounding category, 39-39, while RIC won the battle of the benches, 34-23. Elms connected on 38.2% (29-of-76) from the floor, including 25% (8-of-32) from three-point range, and 75% (18-of-24) from the free throw line. Rhode Island College shot 56.4% (31-of-55) from the field, 47.4% (9-of-19) from three-point range, and 82.1% (23-of-28) from the foul stripe.

The Blazers will return to action when they host Becker College in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) contest at Picknelly Arena Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Rhode Island College travels to UMass-Boston for a Little East Conference (LEC) tilt Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

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