CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) netted 18 points and hauled in 18 rebounds and was named the 2010 Blazer Tip-Off men's basketball tournament most valuable player as the Blazers earned a 89-79 victory over St. Joseph's College (Long Island) on Sunday afternoon at Picknelly Arena.
With the win, Elms improves to 2-0 on the season while St. Joseph's falls to 2-1 overall.
Husson University defeated the University of New England (UNE) 74-51 in Sunday afternoon's consolation game. With the win, the Eagles improve to 2-1 on the season while the Nor'Easters fall to 0-4 overall.
Elms , St. Joseph's
After falling behind by five points in the opening 50 seconds, Elms found its scoring touch early as senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) struck for 15 first half points on 4 of 8 shooting from three-point range.
Alverio added 12 points and 12 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes to help lift the Blazers to a commanding 53-32 lead at intermission.
Blazers' sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) led all scorers with 19 points and added eight rebounds, while freshman center Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.) was the fourth Elms starter to score in double figures with 10 points.
Alverio and Miller swatted two shots each and Alverio dished out a team-best six assists to help pace the Blazers' offensive attack. Sophomore forward Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) scored eight points and added a block in 11 minutes off the bench.
St. Joseph's received a 16-point output from Chris Jimenez (Huntington Station, N.Y.) while Olivier Laurent (Amityville, N.Y.) and Barry Ingram Jr. (Bayshore, N.Y.) registered 14 points apiece in the loss. Trey Black (Bayport, N.Y.) contributed 10 points to round the Golden Eagles' four double-digit scorers.
Husson 74, UNE 51
Husson's Jay Uhrin (Winterport, Maine) led three Eagles in double figures and all scorers with 21 points in the team's 23-point win over the UNE.
Marc Zaharchuk (Richmond, Maine) was stellar in the win totaling 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Eric Modica (Kittery, Maine) rounded out Husson's trio of double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the field.
Uhrin added nine rebounds while Josh Jones (Jefferson, Maine) posted eight points, seven assists and seven boards in the win.
UNE's Marcus Winn (Austin, Texas) netted a team-high 17 points while Ryan Knotek (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) delivered 15 points and nine rebounds in the loss for the Nor'Easters.
12 of Winn's points came from three-point range while he also connected on 5 of 6 from the free throw line.
All Tournament Team
Juan Alverio, Elms, MVP
Brittain Purcelle, Elms
Olivier Laurent, St. Joseph's
Trey Black, St. Joseph's
Jay Uhrin, Husson
Ryan Knotek, University of New England