WESTON, Mass. – Four players reached double-digits in scoring for Regis College, but it was not enough as Elms College defeated the Pride, 82-63, on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball action. Elms moves its record to .500 at 8-8 overall and improves to 7-1 in the NECC. Regis falls to 3-13 and 3-4 in league games.
An Evin Matted (Hartford, Conn.) jumper followed by a three from Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass.) gave the Pride a 5-0 lead to start the game. Elms' David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) scored the first basket of the day for the Blazers and the teams traded buckets until a pair of Carlos Bermudez-Glean (Boston, Mass.) freethrows gave Regis an 11-8 lead with 14:31 to play.
Elms took its first lead of the contest at the 13:09 mark following an unconventional three-point play by McDaniel that put the Blazers on top 13-11. Regis went down 15-11 before a layup by Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, Mass.) and another jumper from Matted tied it up at 15-all. Ryan Chambers knocked down a jumper from the corner to make it a 17-16 game, but several fouls by the Pride led to four-straight freethrows for Elms and a McDaniel three-ball gave Elms a 23-16 lead after the 7-0 run.
The Pride chipped away at the lead and made it a 23-21 game on a pair of freebies from Matted before Elms responded with five-straight points to take a 28-21 lead. Carlos Bermudez-Glean made it a 31-27 game headed into the half as he scored the lone basket of the final minute.
Ryan Chambers scored nine points to lead the Pride, while Evin Matted added eight points and six rebounds. Elms was paced by 11 points from David McDaniel and eight points and seven rebounds from Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.).
Chambers opened the second with a deep three from the corner to make it a one point game, but a 7-1 run by the Blazers pushed their lead back to 38-31 on an Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) jumper. The Pride's Bermudez-Glean went on a 4-0 run of his own to make it a three point game, but baskets from Piere Simpson (East Hartford, Conn.) and Andre French put the lead back at seven. The Pride cut it to five a minute later, but Elms extended its lead to double-digits after a Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) jumper and a triple from French made it a 48-38 game with 11:35 to play.
Osanto Marc (Kissimmee, Fla.) knocked down back-to-back threes to keep the deficit at 10 and after four made freethrows, the Pride only trailed 61-52 with 7:32 to play. Elms answered with a 12-0 run, including threes from McDaniel and Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) to take a commanding 73-52 lead with 5:12 remaining. The Pride would only get as close as 17 the rest of the way as Elms held on for the 82-63 win.
In a game marred by 43 fouls, including two flagrants and a technical, both teams took care of business as the freethrow line with Regis shooting 80% (20-of-25) compared to Elms' 65.6% (21-of-32). Elms won the rebounding battle 44-28, while Regis won the turnover battle 19-23. Elms converted those into 24 points off turnovers, while Regis scored 16 points off the 23 Elms missteps. Elms shot 52.0% from the field (26-of-50) for the game, and shot 62.1% (18-of-29) in the second half to pull away.
Chambers led the Pride with 17 points, while Osanto Marc and Carlos Bermudez-Glean added 10 points apiece. Evin Matted chipped in 11 points with him and Marc grabbing six rebounds each. Ahmad Charles scored nine points and had five rebounds (four offensive).
Elms was led by Andre French's 20 points, while Kenny Lockett added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. David McDaniel scored 17 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while going 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
The Pride return to action on Tuesday night as they travel to Wheelock College for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Wildcats. Elms steps out of conference play next Thursday as the Blazers take on UMass-Dartmouth in a 7:00 p.m. contest.