Turnovers Prove Costly As Blazer Men Fall At Wheelock

BOSTON – Twenty-five Elms College turnovers proved costly on Saturday as the Blazer men's basketball team fell 63-54 at Wheelock College in New England Collegiate Conference action.

Elms falls to 2-21 on the season and 2-10 in NECC play with the loss while Wheelock improves to 4-18 overall and 3-9 in the NECC.

Greg Metelus led Elms with 20 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes off the bench. Nikolas Brown added 12 points and nine boards for the Blazers. Pablo Ortiz finished with eight points.

Wheelock scored the game's first five points before Elms used a 9-0 run to pull ahead 9-5 with 14 minutes to play in the first half. The lead ping-ponged several times in the opening half before Wheelock used a 10-3 run in the final 94 seconds of the half to take a 35-29 lead into the break.

The Blazers scored the first six points of the second half to tie the game at 35-35 almost immediately. Wheelock, however, scored the next six points and never trailed in the second half.

Dejuan Rodriguez and Erick Hernandez each scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats. Brendan Miller added 12 points and Kiwane Crowder finished with 10 for Wheelock. The Wildcats shot 37.5 percent from the field in the game and held Elms to 36.2 percent from the field. Elms held a 44-36 rebounding advantage in the game but the Blazers committed 25 turnovers, compared to just 14 for the Wildcats, resulting in a 25-17 lead for Wheelock in points off turnovers.

Elms returns home for its home finale on Feb. 14 against Southern Vermont before visiting Lesley on Feb. 17 in the final regular season game of the season.