LEICESTER, Mass. – Elms College senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) netted a game-high 18 points but Becker College's Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) led five Hawks players in double figures with 21 points to help secure a 81-71 victory over the Blazers in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game.

With the loss, Elms moves to 8-5 on the season, 1-1 in NECC play, while Becker improves to 11-2 overall, 3-0 in the league.

Trailing 71-63 with 6:13 to play in the game, Cecil Avant drilled a mid-range jumper to pull the Blazers to within six and then swished a pair of free throws 1:09 later to cut Becker's lead to 71-67 with 5:04 remaining in the contest.

The Hawks used a jumper by Moody Doherty (Roselle, N.J.) and a layup by Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) to extend the lead back to eight points (75-67) at the 4:07 mark. Seventeen seconds later, Cecil Avant came through with two more free throws to bring the deficit back to six at 75-69. Another layup by Leggett pushed the lead to 77-69 before sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) answered to narrow the score once more to six at 77-71 with 1:38 on the clock.

From there, Markus Wright (New Haven, Conn.) and Leggett each hit a free throw and Doherty converted a layup to post a 10-point lead at 81-71 and fended off five Blazers three-point attempts to secure the victory.

Purcelle and senior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) finished with 17 points each in the loss for Elms, while senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) drained 13 and amassed a team-high nine rebounds.

Becker shot 48.5-percent from the field and took a slim 42-40 lead into halftime and registered a 46.4 field goal percentage for the game despite allowing the Blazers to shoot a sensational 90.5-percent from the free throw line (19 of 21).

Leggett totaled 20 points, while Doherty finished with 19. Trae Jacobs (Lexington Park, Md.) and Wright added 11 and 10 points respectively in the winning effort.  

Leggett and Wright each tallied double digit rebounds with 16 and 11 respectively, while Favors handed out a game-best seven assists.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, Jan. 15 when it takes on Newbury College. Game time is set for 12:00 p.m. in Brookline, Mass.