Men's Basketball Powers Past Wheelock

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Elms College men's basketball team remained undefeated in New England Collegiate Conference play with an 87-65 victory over visiting Wheelock College at Picknelly Arena Saturday afternoon.

With 17:56 to play in the first half, Elms senior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) knocked down a jumper in the lane to give the Blazers an early 8-0 lead. The Wildcats rallied back with a 9-2 run, powered by four points from sophomore forward Anthony Williams (White Plains, N.Y.), to make it a 10-9 game. At the 10:54 mark, Williams converted a layup to give the Wildcats their lone lead of the game, 17-16. The Blazers rebuilt their lead with a 13-2 run, capped off by a layup from Lockett with 4:29 remaining in the half. Wheelock cut their deficit to 33-28 with 1:13 on an offensive rebound and put-back from senior guard Nico Cantu (Kingsburg, Calif.). The Blazers took a 37-30 lead into halftime.

The Wildcats opened the second half with five consecutive points to cut the Blazer advantage to 37-35 with 19:20 remaining. Elms created separation with a 9-2 run, fueled by eight straight points from junior guard Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.), to stake the Blazers to a 46-37 lead. Wheelock mounted one final comeback with a layup from sophomore guard Nicholas Fenton (East Hartford, Conn.) putting the Wildcats within six points, 48-42, with 16:19 to play. The Blazers pulled away one final time behind a 13-2 run over the next five minutes of play to capture a 61-44 lead at the 11:46 mark. Elms maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the game, and a jumper from senior guard Tyler Scott (Salem, Ore.) gave the Blazers their largest lead of the game, 82-56, with 3:16 on the clock. The Blazers held the Wildcats to nine points in the final minutes to secure the 87-65.

Elms had four players amass double-digit point totals, led by Buchanon with a game-high 17 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the floor, with a game-high nine assists and three rebounds. Lockett added 17 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) registered a double-double with a game-high 15 rebounds and 11 points. Freshman forward Devonte Marshall (Springfield, Mass.) came off bench with 10 points and four rebounds.

Wheelock was paced by a team-high 15 points from freshman guard Lawrence Christmas (Garner, N.C.). Sophomore guard Derek Fournier (Johnston, R.I.) added 13 points, shooting 3-of-4 from three-point range, and four rebounds, while Williams tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. Cantu added 10 point off the bench in the loss.

The Blazers nearly doubled the rebounding of Wheelock, 48-25, during the contest. Elms connected on 53% (35-of-66) from the field, including 50% (6-of-12) from three-point, and 64.7% (11-of-17) from the free throw line. Wheelock shot 37.5% (24-of-64) from the floor, 35.3% (6-of-17) from three-point range, and 64.7% (11-of-17) from the charity stripe.

With the win, the Blazers improve to 4-7 overall, and 3-0 in the NECC, while Wheelock dropped to 3-8, and 0-2 on the season. Elms returns to action when they host Becker College Tuesday night at 5:00 p.m. The Wildcats travel to Lesley for a road NECC matchup Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.

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