NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Chelsea Thomas converted a layup with two second left to propel The College of New Rochelle to a 68-67 HVIAC victory over Yeshiva University Tuesday night at the Wellness Center. Blue Angel seniors Jah-Leah Ellis and Alyssa Pechin were honored prior to the game.
Trailing by one and looking for the final shot, Pechin drove the lane and found a wide open Thomas on the right side of the basket for the winning field goal. The Maccabees inbounds pass was deflected after the basket, giving CNR (10-7, 3-1 HVIAC) the important conference win.
Yeshiva (3-14, 2-4 HVIAC) opened the game in an offensive rhythm, opening up a 10 point lead, 14-4, after eight minutes of play. The Macs held the lead at 10, 28-18, with 2:42 left in the opening stanza before the Blue Angels found their stride offensively, running off an 8-2 spurt to go into the locker room trailing by just four, 30-26.
The Blue Angels extended the run to 24-4 over the first five minutes of the second half, opening up a 10 point, 42-32, lead of their own. In a game of changing momentum, Yeshiva responded with a 15-5 run of its own to knot the score at 47 with 10 minutes to play. The game was a see-saw battle the rest of the way until Thomas' dramatic layup ended the scoring.
Ellis paced CNR with 21 points and a game-high 18 rebounds, adding four assists and three steals. Pechin tallied 18 points and four assists, while Caitlin Harrison tallied her second straight double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.