Husson University Outlasts Men’s Basketball, 83-82

Box Score

BANGOR, Maine – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points, but Husson University’s Brock Bradford (Kenduskeag, Maine) delivered a layup with 2.4 seconds left in the contest to lift the Eagles to a thrilling 83-82 victory over the Blazers in Saturday afternoon’s non-conference men’s basketball game at Newman Gymnasium.

With the loss, Elms moves to 6-2 on the season, while Husson improves to 4-3 overall.

Trailing 63-56 with 8:27 remaining in the second half, the Blazers came roaring back to within three at 63-60, but Husson’s Philip Leighton (Naples, Maine) answered by hitting the Eagles’ next two shots, including a three-pointer as Husson upped its advantage to 10 at 70-60 with 6:15 to play.

Elms’ sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (So., Wolcott, Conn.) drained a trey to bring the Blazers to within six at 75-69 before a Corcoran layup narrowed the gap to four with 3:37 left in the contest. Blazers’ senior forward Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, Mass.) then connected on two free-throws to cut the deficit to two at 75-73.

Trailing 79-78 with 1:54 to play, the Elms took the lead on a short jumper by freshman guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) with fifty-two seconds remaining. Husson regained the lead when Matt MacKenzie (Warren, Maine) gathered a rebound and laid it in to put Husson ahead 81-80 with twenty-five seconds to go. Corcoran then nailed another jumper with nine seconds remaining to put Elms in front 82-81.

On the ensuing inbound, Bradford took the ball coast-to-coast and converted a layup to secure the Eagles’ 83-82 victory.

Corcoran finished with 12 points, while senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) and Purcelle added 11 and 10 respectively. Mathis also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds in the losing effort.

Maldonado added five assists and four steals, while Sylvia contributed eight points and three blocked shots off the bench.

Elms College got off to a quick start in the first half, hitting 3 of 4 from the field to post an 11-6 lead at the 14:13 mark, highlighted by a jumper and a trey from Maldonado.

The Blazers led by as many as six (15-9) with 12:09 to go in the period before the Eagles used a 10-5 run capped by a MacKenzie jumper to give Husson its first lead of the contest, 20-19.

With the stanza knotted at 26-26 at the 3:24 mark, Husson closed out the half using another 10-5 run to take a 36-31 lead into the break.

MacKenzie netted a team-high 21 points, while Bradford poured in 18, Leighton, and Jay Uhrin (Winterport, Maine) added 16 and 10 respectively in the winning effort.

Bradford added four steals while Joshua Jones (Jefferson, Maine) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Elms returns to action on Monday, Jan. 4-5 at the Union College Tournament. Game-time is set for 1:00 p.m.