#2 Elms and #4Becker Advance to the Final Four at Eastern Conn. State

New England Men
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 vs. No. 4 Becker, 4:00 p.m.
No. 2 Elms vs. No. 6 Husson, 7:00 p.m.  

Championship - Sunday, March 7 at Eastern Connecticut State
Two Semifinal Winners, 2:00 p.m.

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

CHICOPEE, Mass. & LEICESTER, Mass.-#2 Elms College defeated #7Curry College 77-66, while #4Becker College defeated #5 Framingham State77-75. Both teams advance to the Final Four at Eastern Conn. State for the Semifinals of the 2010 ECAC Men's Basketball Championship.

 BOX SCORE: http://athletics.elms.edu/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/ecm28.htm

CHICOPEE, Mass. - Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) scored 21 second-half points to help lift the second-seed Blazers to a 77-66 victory over No. 7 Curry College and advance to the semifinal round of the 2009-10 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship tournament, Wednesday at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 22-6 on the season and will take on sixth-seeded Husson University (16-11) in the semifinal round of the ECAC Championship tournament on Saturday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. The Eagles downed No. 3 Plymouth State University 70-62 in opening round action to secure their matchup with Blazers. Curry, meanwhile, concludes its campaign 15-14 overall.

Top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University outlasted No. 8 Wentworth Institute of Technology, 64-59 and will host the semifinals and championship round contests. The Warriors will take on No. 4 Becker College in semifinal action on Saturday, March 6 at 4:00 p.m. The Hawks ousted No. 5 Framingham State from tournament action with a 77-75 victory.

Trailing 34-31 2:12 into second frame, Blazers' sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) buried a three-pointer to knot the game at 34-34. Following a Curry free throw by Chris Bonadies (Medfield, Mass.), Maldonado struck from beyond the arc to put Elms up 37-35 at the 18:28 mark.

Curry regained the lead and led by as many as four at 43-39 with 14:21 to play in the contest before the Blazers answered with 9-0 run that featured five points from senior forward Javon Mathis (East Harford, Conn.) and two each from Maldonado and sophomore guard Luis Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) to set the score at 48-43 with 11:43 remaining.

The Colonels' Mark Mastrullo (Billerica, Mass.) netted all of Curry's next 10 points to highlight a 10-3 run that put the Colonels ahead 53-51. Maldonado answered with a trey that ignited a 12-5 run by the Blazers. Maldonado connected on two more three-pointers to highlight the stretch that gave Elms a 63-58 cushion with 6:10 left in the second stanza.

A mid-range jumper by Curry's Jarrell Jackson (Brockton, Mass.) at the 4:33 mark pulled the Colonels to within one at 63-61, but Elms sealed the victory by scoring 14 of the next 19 points.

After being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, Maldonado exploded for a game-high 21 points, highlighted by six treys.

In the opening period, Elms led by as many as 15 behind 13 points from Mathis. Trailing 31-19 with 4:15 in the frame, Curry mounted a furious rally, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 32-31 lead at intermission. Philippe Jourdain (Cambridge, Mass.) led the charge with seven points, while Mastrullo, Michael Worrick (North Grafton, Mass.) and Michael D'Amato (Redding, Conn.) added 10 each during the span.

Mathis finished with a double-double pouring in 20 points and hauling in a team-high 10 rebounds, while senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) added 12 points and snagged six boards.

Corcoran dished out six assists and recorded eight rebounds, while junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) and Santiago finished with eight points apiece.

Mastrullo led four Colonels' players in double figures with 16 points, while Jourdain notched 15 points and a game-best 11 rebounds.

Jackson and Rodney Bennett (Mattapan, Mass.) contributed 12 and 10 each in the losing effort, while Bonadies added nine rebounds.

BOX SCORE: http://www.beckerhawks.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/bcm28.htm

LEICESTER, Mass.- Becker College held on to defeat Framingham State 77-75 in ECAC Quarterfinal men's basketball action.

Becker opened the game going on 15 to two run, as the Hawks led 41-29 at halftime.  Junior Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) carried the Hawks with 11 points in the first half. Matt Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.) went three for three from beyond the arch.

In the second half the Rams came charging back, as Becker Blew a 16 point lead. With the Hawks ahead 64-48, Framingham went a 9-0 run, cutting the Hawks advantage to just seven points.  The Hawks held a slim lead until Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) scored a layup with 3:45 remaining in the game, tying things at 71 all.

The Two teams went back and forth until the final seconds of the game when Trae Jacobs (Lexington Park, MD) was fouled in the paint with three seconds remaining. Jacobs hit both free throws and the Hawks advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC tournament.

Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.) led all scorers with 26 points, 19 of those came in the second half.  Senior Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.) scored 18 points, going three for six from three point range. Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass) chipped in with 12 points. Framingham State finished the season with a record of 16-11.

Four out of five Becker starters finished in double figures. Rajai Leggett scored 13 points and pulled down game high 14 rebounds, to earn a double-double. Junior point guard DeJohn Joseph-Exum (New London, Conn.) led the Hawks with 14 points.

Trae Jacobs had 13 points and Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass) added 11 points in the victory. Matt Petrides came off the bench to score 13 points, going four for four from three point range.

With the win the Hawks improved to 19-9 on the season. Becker will travel to Eastern Connecticut State (19-9) for the Final four of the ECAC Tournament on Friday night at 4pm.

 Stories Courtesy of Elms and Becker Sports Information