BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Newbury College men's basketball team fell to Elms College, 78-75, inNew England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action, Saturday afternoon. Junior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.), hit the game-winner with just over a minute to play in regulation, led five Blazers in double figures tallying 19 points on afternoon.
Elms sophomore Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) put the Blazers on the scoreboard first two minutes but that was the last time they saw the lead until the waning minutes of the contest. Senior guard Eric Watson (New Rochelle, N.Y.) ignited an 8-0 run knocking down trey from junior guard Mills Carrasco (Haverhill, Mass.) as momentum began to favor the Nighthawks.
Newbury's offense was firing on all cylinders in the first. Junior guard David Hart (Keene, N.H.) connected with his fellow New Hampshire teammate, junior center Cameron Owen(Concord, N.H.), across the court for a three to give the Newbury a 12-6 lead. Moments later, Hart drained a trey of his own to push the lead to 10.
Their lead grew to as great as 15 with less than four minutes to play however the Blazers answered and closed out the half with a 9-2 to go into the half trailing the Nighthawks, 36-28.
When the teams emerged from the locker room at the start of the second half, the Nighthawks opened with a 6-2 run, sparked by Carrasco's four-for-four from the charity stripe, to take their largest lead off the half, 42-30. However, the Blazers started to chip away at the deficit.
Midway through the period, the Blazers started to heat up. First year guard Conny Ihearahu(Largo, Md.) sparked a 5-0 run to make it a two-possession game with under 10 minutes remaining. Over the next five minutes, Elms cut the deficit to as low as two points, twice but could never get over the hump before Lockett gave the Blazers their first lead off the game since the opening minutes.
In game where there was just one lead change up until the last two minutes of the contest, over minute their would be three lead changes before Lockett gave Elms the lead for good, 74-73, with a minute left on the clock .
Lockett led five Blazers in double digits, registering his second double-double of the season, tallying 19 points and 15 rebounds while Buchanon followed up netting 14 points. Senior guard Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) also recorded a double-double, notching 13 points and 12 boards while Simpson and sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.) rounded out the Blazers in double figures with 12 points each.
Watson led the Nighthawks with a game-high 26 points while Carrasco was nearly flawless from the free-throw line knocking down 10-of-12 for 16 points. First year guard Ceejae Carter(Dorchester, Mass.) rounded out the Nighthawk trio in double digits netting 11 on the day.
Newbury falls to 0-2 in the conference and 0-8 overall while Elms improves to 2-6 and 1-1 in the NECC. The Nighthawks return to the court on Monday December 9 when they host non-conference MIT at 6:00 p.m. The Blazers will be back in action before the winter break next Saturday when they host non-conference Framingham State University at 3:00 p.m.
Game Notes:
Junior guard David Hart (Keene, N.H.) made his first start of his collegiate career, tallying eight points with six rebounds while shooting three-of-seven from the field.