CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Mass.) connected on 5 of 9 from three-point range and drained a game-high 17 points off the bench to lift the Blazers to a 96-65 victory over Mitchell College in Thursday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 10-5 overall, 3-1 in league action, while Mitchell falls to 1-14 on the season, 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.

Elms senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) sank four three-pointers in the opening frame scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first stanza. Senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) 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 senior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) and two Cecil Avant free throws to give Elms its largest lead of the game (69-37) at the 15:40 mark.

Mitchell's Tim Quinn (Vernon, Conn.) converted a layup and nailed a three-pointer, and Julio Contreras (Boca Raton, Fla.) 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, Alex Vess (Middletown, Conn.) converted a fast-break layup, and Paul Jefferson (Waterbury, Conn.) 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's 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 96-65 victory.

Martinez finished with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Alverio and sophomore center Carson Miller (New Oxford, Pa.) netted eight points each.

Freshman forward Brian Onukwugha (West Hartford, Conn.) and sophomore center DaSean Brown (Hartford, Conn.) chipped in six points each off the bench, while Onukwugha also hauled in six rebounds.

Sophomore forward Jamal Hulum (Reston, Va.) added two blocks and grabbed five boards, while freshman guard Jordan Robinson (Plainsboro, N.J.) handed out a game-high six assists. Sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) added six points and four assists in the winning effort.

Jefferson paced Mitchell's offense with a team-high 14 points, while Quinn totaled 12 points. Mercury Fiske (Worcester, Mass.) netted eight, while Alex Del Rio (New Britain, Conn.) and Contreras dropped in seven apiece.

Del Rio added a team-high four assists, while Chris Thomas (Orlando, Fla.) swatted a pair of Blazers' shots.  

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when it hosts Daniel Webster College at 2:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.