CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) swished a game-high 24 points and added five steals to help pace the Blazers to an 84-70 victory over Western New England College (WNEC) in Tuesday evening's non-conference men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 3-0 on the season while WNEC falls to 0-5 overall.

Elms fired out of the gate behind stellar three-point shooting from junior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) who connected on his first three three-point attempts in the first 6:13 to help Elms build a 19-8 lead.

A pair of baskets by Gonzalez and sophomore center Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.) as well as a pair of free throws by senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) extended the Blazers' lead to 25-10 with 12:06 to play in the opening period.

A 7-2 run by WNEC closed the gap to 10 points as Brad Thomka (Springfield, Mass.) converted a layup and Andre Shaw (New York, N.Y.) delivered a trey, but nine unanswered points by the Blazers pushed the lead to 19 with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half as Elms held at least a 15-point advantage throughout the rest of the stanza and led by as many as 23 (50-27 at the 1:05 mark).

Trailing 50-30 at intermission, the Golden Bears responded when Damon Alston (New Britain, Conn.) drained a triple just seven seconds into the second half and Chris Devine (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored a basket underneath to spark an 18-9 run that pulled WNEC to within 11 at 59-48 with 13:38 to play in the contest.

After Purcelle hit a pair of free throws, Andre Duncan (Bronx, N.Y.) cut the deficit to 10 with a score from beyond the arc to set the score at 61-51 with 11:46 remaining in the game.

Shaw delivered on a three-point play opportunity scoring a layup and the ensuing free throw at the 6:57 mark to bring WNEC again to within 10 (68-58) but seven straight points, five of which were scored by Purcelle, extended Elms' lead back to 17 with 4:33 remaining.

The Blazers maintained at least a 12-point cushion until the Golden Bears' Ryan Mickiewicz (East Longmeadow, Mass.) converted a layup with 1:18 to play to pull WNEC to within 10 for the third time in the frame, but layups by Jordan Robinson (Plainsboro, N.J.) and Alverio closed out the game with buckets in the paint to seal the victory for the Blazers.

Alverio finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, dished out a game-best six assists and recorded two blocks, while Gonzalez added three steals to his 16-point performance that was highlighted by four treys.

Senior guard Arsenio Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) and junior guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) added three steals to help Elms register 17 fast break points and 41 points off WNEC turnovers.

Shaw finished with a team-high 18 points off the bench for WNEC and added four steals while Thomka and Conor Lomas (Wilbraham, Mass.) added 16 and 12 points respectively. Both Thomka and Lomas led the squad with 10 rebounds each in the losing effort.

Elms returns to non-conference action on Friday, Dec. 3 when it takes on Springfield College in its opening game of the Pioneer Valley Classic hosted by Amherst College. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m.