#2 Elms Heads to Big Game, While #4 Becker Heads Home
New England Men
press
release
First Round - Wednesday, March 3
No. 8 Wentworth 59 at No. 1 Eastern
Connecticut State 64
No. 7 Curry 66 at No. 2
Elms 77
No. 6 Husson 69 at No.
3 Plymouth State 62
No. 5 Framingham State 75 at No. 4
Becker 77
Semifinals - Saturday, March 6 at Eastern Connecticut
State
No. 1 ECSU 75 vs. No. 4 Becker
71
No. 2 Elms 68 vs. No. 6 Husson
64
Championship - Sunday, March 7 at Eastern Connecticut
State
ECSU vs. Elms
For the Full Release: http://www.ecacsports.com/championships/2010_Basketball/2010_bball_championships
For the Bracket: http://www.ecacsports.com/championships/2010_Basketball/new_england_men_bracket.pdf
Elms Website:http://athletics.elms.edu/landing/index
Becker Website: http://www.beckerhawks.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/news/ECAC
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - The top two seeds in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) men's basketball tournament built double-digit leads, then had to hold on to gain four-point semifinal wins Saturday and advance to Sunday's championship game at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium on the Eastern Connecticut State University campus.
Host and top-ranked Eastern (20-9) led by as many as 15 points seven minutes into the second half and held on against fourth-seeded Becker College (19-10) in Saturday's first semifinal. In the second semifinal, second-seeded Elms College (23-6) raced to an 18-point lead with four minutes left in the first half and had to survive a second-half rush by sixth-seeded Husson University (16-12) that narrowed the margin to two late in the game in a 68-64 triumph.
Both finalists will be in search of their first ECAC tournament titles Sunday in their first appearances in the title game. Prior to this year, Eastern had advanced as far as the tournament semifinals only once in four previous appearances in the tournament. The ECAC bid this season was the first one for Elms, which had earned berths in the NCAA tournament each of the previous five seasons. The Blazers are under the direction of ninth-year head coach Ed Silva, a former Little East Conference All-Star and assistant coach at Eastern in the 1990s. In the only meeting between the programs, Elms recorded a 92-74 victory over the Warriors in the championship game of the Eastern Tip-Off Tournament in 2006.
Eastern Conn. 75, Becker College 71
Box Score: http://athletics.elms.edu/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/ecm29.htm
Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke,
Mass.) scored a team-high 16 points and sophomore guard
Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) collected a steal
and drained a clutch free throw with less than 10 seconds to play
to help lift the second-seeded Blazers to a thrilling 68-64 victory
over No. 6 Husson University to punch their ticket to the 2010
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament championship
game.
With the win, Elms improves to 23-6 on the season and will face
top-seed and host Eastern Connecticut State University in the title
game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The Warriors topped fourth-seeded
Becker College, 75-71 to earn their spot in the championship
contest. Husson, meanwhile, concludes its season 16-12 overall.
Trailing 65-60 with 57 seconds to play in the game, Husson's
Jay Uhrin (Winterport, Maine) converted a pair of
free throws to pull the Eagles to within three at 65-62. Blazers'
freshman guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.)
then hit the back end of two free throws to give Elms a 66-62 lead
with 44 seconds remaining before Uhrin struck from the top of the
key to trim the deficit to two at 66-64 with 20 ticks on the clock.
Elms' junior guard Arsenio Avant (Southwest, Fla.)
nailed the second of two from the stripe to set the score at 67-64.
Corcoran then forced a turnover with eight seconds left and swished
the second of two free throws to seal the victory.
Elms, who led by as many as 16 just four minutes into the second
period, maintained at least an eight-point cushion until Husson
used an 8-0 run to narrow a 13-point deficit at the 10:33 mark
(53-40) to a five-point deficit (53-48) with 8:24 to play in the
contest. Uhrin delivered a pair of free throws and Phillip
Leighton (Naples, Maine) and Joshua Jones
(Jefferson, Maine) each sank a three-pointer to highlight
the run for the Eagles.
Four minutes later, Husson's Brock Bradford (Kenduskeag,
Maine) netted a layup to pull the Eagles to within two at
60-58 with 4:23 remaining in the game. Elms' senior forward
Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) and Husson's
Matt MacKenzie (Warren, Maine) traded baskets
underneath to keep the Blazers' lead at two (62-60), before a
Purcelle layup and a free throw by junior forward Juan
Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) extended the edge to five
(65-60) with 1:14 to play. From there, Elms was able to hold off
the Eagles' final attempts to come all the way back.
Elms got off to a fast start and posted a 26-17 with 5:12 to play
in the opening half. Elms continued the offensive outburst, scoring
11 of the next 13 points to mount a commanding 37-19 lead with 3:17
to play in the period. Purcelle hit two from the stripe, senior
forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) swished a
pair of free throws and added a layup, while Alverio added a bucket
in the paint, and Maldonado knocked down a trey during the
stretch.
Uhrin nailed a three-pointer with 2:33 to spark a 10-3 run by
the Eagles to close out the half, capped by a trey from Eric Modica
with 10 seconds to go in the half to set the score at 40-29 at
intermission.
Purcelle finished with 14 points, while Holder and Mathis chimed in
with 13 and 11 respectively. Mathis hauled in a team-high 12
boards, while Alverio registered 10 rebounds and two blocked shots
in the winning effort. Holder added eight boards off the bench.
Husson was led by Uhrin's game-high 18 points, while Bradford and
Jones struck for 15 and 10 respectively. Jones also secured a
game-best 15 boards, while Bradford handed out a game-high 5
assists.
Husson shot 35.7-percent from the floor, while Elms was held to
just 34.7 percent from the field.
Eastern Conn. 75, Becker College 71
Box Score: http://www.beckerhawks.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/bcm29.htm
Eastern never trailed in the second half and led by 15 seven minutes into the stanza, but utilizing its press, Becker pulled to within three points with six minutes left and within one when junior DJ Exum (New London, Conn.) and junior Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) each stole the ball and scored on layups on consecutive plays to make it 65-64 with three minutes left. Junior Broderick Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) then found sophomore Jamie Kohn (Columbia) open underneath for an uncontested basket and Sawyer then sank two free throws to push the lead back to five with two minutes left.
By grabbing twice as many offensive rebounds, Becker outscored Eastern by ten on second-chance opportunitees and had a +11 advantage on points off turnovers (forcing 27 and commiting only nine) but was 17-for-33 from the foul line and missed all nine of its three-pointers.
Senior guard Nick Nedwick (Irvington, NY) and Kohn played all but six minutes for Eastern and combined for 45 points (17-for-27 from the floor), 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Nedwick netted a season-high played all 40 minutes for Eastern, and was one of two Eastern players with at least 20 points. Nedwick had his second-high career point total with a game-high 25 points in 40 minutes to go along with four steals, four rebounds and two steals; Kohn had 20 points (9-for-12 from the floor) with a team-high eight rebounds and three assists.
Becker sophomore Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) ignited Becker's second-half rally by scoring 13 of his team-high 17 points after the break. Favors finished with a game-high ten rebounds.
The Warriors survived despite having two players foul out and playing with a sub-par Edwin Ortiz (Hartford, Conn.). Ortiz, who shares the team scoring lead with Nedwick, was held scoreless from the floor and finished with two points while battling a case of the flu. He played only 22 minutes.
Now 12-3 at home this year, Eastern reached the 20-win plateau for only the third time in the program's 68-year history. A win in the final will equal the program record, set in 1969-70 and equaled in 1992/93.
Story Courtesy of Eastern Conn. St., Becker and Elms Sports Information
