Men's Hoops Defeats Thomas in Season Opener at Home

CHICOPEE, Mass. - The Elms College Men's Basketball team hosted Thomas College in a non-conference game on Friday evening at Picknelly Arena to start the 2025-26 season.

BASICS
Score: Elms College 83 | Thomas College 57
Records: Blazers 1-0, 0-0 (GNAC) | Terriers 0-1, 0-0 (NAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

At the start of the first half, Elms began the game with senior forward/guard RJ Mayfield (Springfield, Mass.) stealing the ball, which led to the first points of the game, scored by senior forward/guard Aden Goffe (New Haven, Conn.). In the next play, another turnover from Thomas led to a foul on senior center/guard/forward Edgardo Jacob Cancel (Northampton, Mass.), who converted both free throws. The first point for the Terriers came from a foul in which only one free throw was converted, making the game 4-1 to the Blazers at the beginning of the half. Elms attempted the first three-point shot, which would not go in, but Mayfield scored a tip-in. Next, the Blazers offense would score their first three-pointer of the game with Mayfield making the game 9-1 for the Blazers. Senior forward Adam Sarlan (Chicopee, Mass.) scored the next points in an unassisted layup. After getting a defensive rebound, Goffe got fouled and converted both shots to make the game 13-1. Thomas would go and score with a layup, and Elms quickly responded with Mayfield scoring another layup. After a missed three-point attempt, Goffe would score on a tip-in, bringing the game to 17-3. Junior guard Travis Jordan (Springfield, Mass.) would go and score his first points of the game on a layup, followed by junior guard DJ Watkins (Union, N.J.) putting three more points on the scoreboard, and next stealing the ball to convert a layup. Watkins drew a foul and converted both of his free throws, bringing the game to a 23-point lead for Elms, 26-3. First year guard Jamie Lawson (Charlotte, N.C.) would go on to assist Goffe to bring the game to 28-8. After a defensive rebound and an assist by Sarlan, Mayfield scored two more points for the Blazers. Next offensive play, Aden scored his first 3-pointer of the night. Sophomore forward/guard Daniel Villanueva (Seymour, Conn.) scored after getting an offensive rebound, which brought the game to 35-10. After another layup by Mayfield, Watkins would then score his second three-pointer of the night. After Elms' first timeout of the game, Goffe proceeded to get a fault and convert both of his shots, making the game 42-12. Next offensive play, Watkins went and scored his third three-point shot of the night. In a sequence of points, Watkins would score in a tip-in and layup, and the game would come to 49-18 with Goffe scoring on a jumpshot and Cancel converting his pair of free throw shots. The first half ended with Mayfield acquiring a defensive rebound and scoring a buzzer-beater from almost the half-court line. The Blazers would end the first half with a 27-point lead over the Terriers, 55-28. 

In the second half, after 4 minutes with no changes on the scoreboard, the first points for the Blazers would come with first year forward Jaedon Bogar (Aubrey, Texas) scoring his first points of the night with a layup and a tip-in, bringing the game to 59-34 with 13:29 left on the clock. Lawson and Cancel would both get a layup followed by a timeout for the Blazers. With a layup from Goffe, a three-point shot for Watkins, and a pair of converted free throws for Goffe, the game was now 70-39 with Elms still in the lead. Cancel would then score his second basket of the night, followed by Mayfield converting a jump shot. After a steal by Mayfield, first year forward/center Rayquan Anderson (Waterbury, Conn.) would score his first basket of the night and convert one free throw shot, making the game 77-48 with 04:15 left on the clock. After a timeout from the Blazers, Bogar would convert one of his free throw shots, followed by himself sinking a layup and a free throw. After coming from the bench, senior guard/forward Max Rolnick (Vaughan, Ontario) would convert his first three-point shot, bringing the game to 83-55 with 30 seconds left on the clock. The game ended 83-57 after a spectacular display of basketball and sportsmanship by the Blazers to start the 2025-26 season in the victory column.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Watkins - 20 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a block.

• Goffe - 19 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.

• Mayfield - 16 points, six rebounds, three steals, a block, and an assist.

• Cancel - seven points and three rebounds.

• Bogar - seven points and three rebounds.

• Lawson - six rebounds, two points, and an assist.

• Sarlan - five rebounds, two points, and two assists.

• Anderson - five rebounds, three points, an assist, and a block.

• Rolnick - three points.

• Villanueva - three rebounds, two points, and a steal.

• Jordan - two points, two rebounds, and two assists.

• Kabongo-Mutombo - a rebound and an assist.

• Dunlap - a steal.

UP NEXT: The Elms College Men's Basketball team will travel to Lexington, Mass. to face Lesley University in their first road game of the season on Saturday, November 8th in a non-conference matchup at 3 pm.

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