PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Elms College senior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) drained 15 points and collected a team-high nine rebounds to help the Blazers stake a 70-58 victory over No. 22 Plattsburgh State in Wednesday evening's non-conference men's basketball game at Memorial Hall.

With the win, Elms improves to 7-4 on the season and caps its non-conference slate with its first win over a ranked opponent since Dec. 4, 2009 when the Blazers downed No. 13 Amherst College at Picknelly Arena. Plattsburgh State moves to 6-3 overall.

With the scored even at 32-32 at the 19:08 mark of the second half, Elms used a 16-6 run over the next 5:38 to post a 10-point 48-38 lead. The run featured eight points from junior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.), four points from Martinez and was capped by a trey from senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.).

Plattsburgh State cut the lead to eight when Errol Daniyan (Coram, N.Y.) converted a layup at the 12:59 mark and Katema Brooks (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) swished a pair of free throws with 8:43 remaining, but a Blazers' free throw by senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) and a layup by sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) extended Elms' lead back to 11 points with 8:19 to go in the contest. From there, Elms maintained at least a nine-point cushion and led by as many as 13 (65-52 at the 2:57 mark and 67-54 at the 1:56 time stamp) as the Blazers secured a 12-point 70-58 win.

Elms outscored Plattsburgh State 40-28 in the second half as Martinez netted nine of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes. Seven of Cecil Avant's 10 points and all seven of Purcelle's points came in the second half to help the Blazers seal their second win in three games since starting the 2011 portion of their schedule.

Gonzalez tallied a team-high 16 points in the win, and added three steals while Cecil Avant dished out five helpers for the Blazers.

The first half was tightly contest before Elms opened up a nine-point lead at the 5:01 mark after junior guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) delivered a layup to give the Blazers a 25-16 lead.  

Plattsburgh State responded when Chris Ruiz (Washington Heights, N.Y.) nailed a jumper that sparked a 9-0 run that saw Carl Munnerlyn (Brooklyn, N.Y.) down a three-pointer, Daniyan add a layup and Ruiz sink a pair of free throws to knot the game with 3:38 to play in the opening half. Gonzalez then connected for a three-pointer 11 seconds later to give Elms a three-point edge before a layup and a free throw by Daniyan with 2:08 to play in the period sent the game to a 28-28 deadlock. Steve Thomas (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) broke the tie with two foul shots with 1:38 on the clock and appeared poised to take at least a two-point advantage into halftime but Martinez took advantage of Cardinals' turnover and netted the tying bucket to post a 30-30 stalemate at intermission.

Daniyan paced Plattsburgh State with a game-high 23 points in the loss, while Munnerlyn and Josh Bruno (Ottawa, Ontario) added eight points apiece. Daniyan also controlled the boards and finished with a game-best 15 rebounds and totaled all five of the Cardinals' blocked shots in the losing effort.

Brooks passed out a game-high six assists while Thomas hit on 4 of 5 from the free throw line en route to seven points.

Elms returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 8 when it hosts Lesley University in its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.