CHICOPEE, Mass. – The Mitchell College men's basketball team lost a 96-65 final at Elms College on Thursday evening at Picknelly Arena.

Elms' Daniel Gonzalez connected on 5-of-9 from three-point range and drained a game-high 17 points off the bench to lift the Blazers to victory. With the win Elms improved to 10-5 overall and 3-1 in league action, while Mitchell dropped to 1-14 on the season and 0-6 in conference play.

Accurate shooting from the field in the first half (56.1-percent), including a staggering 60-percent from beyond the arc through the first 20 minutes, gave Elms a commanding 59-30 lead at intermission. Cecil Avant sank four three-pointers in the opening frame and scored 12 of his 14 points in the first stanza. Juan Alverio added a pair from three-point range and scored all eight of his points in the first half, while Gonzalez hit two of his five treys in the period.

The Blazers scored 10 of the first 17 points of the second that included two more three-pointers from Gonzalez, a bucket by Edgar Martinez and Avant free throws to give Elms its largest lead of the game (69-37) at the 15:40 mark.

Mitchell freshman Tim Quinn converted a layup and nailed a three-pointer, and junior Julio Contreras added a swish from beyond the arc to pull the Mariners to within 24 at 69-45 with 13:52 to play in the game.

Trailing 78-51 with 6:37 remaining in the contest, junior Alex Vess converted a fast-break layup, and classmate Paul Jefferson drilled a pair from three-point range to highlight an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 21 points at 80-59 with 5:33 on the clock.

That was as close as Mitchell would get, as the Blazers maintained at least a 25-point cushion and closed out the game with a 31-point victory. Martinez finished 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Alverio and Carson Miller netted eight points each. Brian Onukwugha and DaSean Brown chipped in six points each off the bench, while Onukwugha also hauled in six rebounds.

Jefferson paced Mitchell's offense with a team-high 14 points, while Quinn totaled 12 points. Junior Mercury Fiske netted eight while freshman Alex Del Rio and Contreras dropped in seven apiece. Del Rio added a team-high four assists, while freshman Chris Thomas swatted a pair of Blazers' shots.

Mitchell will next host Newbury College on Saturday, January 22 at the Yarnall Athletic Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.