Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short In Tight Loss At Mitchell

New London CT – The Elms College men's basketball team battled hard but came up short in a 66-63 loss at Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball showdown at the Yarnall Athletic Center. 

Neither team led by more than seven points in a contest that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes, the majority of which came in the opening half. Mitchell led by six late in the first before Elms ripped off an 11-2 run to close the stanza. A three-pointer by Will Leach (Washington, D.C.) capped the spurt and gave the Blazers a 34-31 lead at the break.

Elms bumped the margin to as many as seven early in the second half. However, Mitchell responded with 12 straight points to take over the lead for good.

The Blazers stayed within striking distance and had chances late. A triple by Nikolas Brown (Wellington, FL) cut the deficit to one with 5:26 to go, and on their next possession the Blazers had a chance to grab the lead, but the Mariners would block a shot on the defensive end before hustling up the floor for an offensive rebound and put-back.

A Mitchelll three-pointer came with 3:37 left and gave the home side some breathing room at 63-59. The Mariners kept the cushion until a three by DJ Edelen (Prince George, VA) brought Elms back within one at 64-63 with 29 seconds to play. 

A Mariner lay-up provided the last points of the game with 21 ticks left, but the final moments held plenty of drama. Mitchell failed to ice the game at the free throw line, allowing the Blazers one more crack at the game-tying three in the closing seconds. Elms got the ball to the corner for the attempt, but Mitchell was to swat the ball away at the buzzer.

Edelen paced Elms with 14 points and eight boards but saw limited floor time due to foul trouble. Ahmad Conner (Springfield, MA) added 11 points in a starting role while Justin Feliciano (Springfield, MA) came off the bench to contribute 10.

The Blazers are back on the court Wednesday 1/29 at 6PM when they travel to Dean College in NECC action.