CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) swished six three-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points to help lift the Blazers to a 77-62 win over Lesley University in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game in Cambridge, Mass.

With the win, Elms improves to 13-5 on the season, 6-1 in NECC play, while Lesley slides to 4-15 overall, 1-7 in conference action.

Trailing 24-23 with 7:21 to play in the opening period, Newbury's Grant Cobb (Plymouth, Minn.) connected from beyond the arc to give the Nighthawks a 26-24 lead before Elms' senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) hit the back end of a pair of free throws and freshman guard Kurt Steiner (Rutland, Mass.) sank a trey to put the Blazers ahead 28-26 at the 5:14 mark.

From there, Elms went on a 10-1 run over the final 4:26, highlighted by a pair of Gonzalez three-pointers to stake a 40-27 lead at halftime.

The Blazers shot 50-percent from the field in the first period and topped that with a staggering 60-percent clip from three-point range (9 of 15).

Newbury cut the deficit to 11 at 41-30 when Cobb hit a jumper at the 18:51 mark, and 7:41 later, John Sanchez (Carson, Calif.) drained a pair from the stripe to again bring the Nighthawks to within 11 at 56-45 with 11:10 to play.

Another Gonzalez trey pushed the lead back to 14, and despite Harold Smith (Florence, Ariz.) converting a three-point play for Newbury, Elms extended its 59-48 lead to 71-52 with a 12-4 run over the next four minutes capped by the second of two three-pointers during the stretch by senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) to set the score at 71-52 with 3:41 remaining in the contest.   

Newbury answered with six-straight points to cut the lead to 13 (71-58) with 1:58 to play in the game but three free throws from sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) pushed the lead back to 16.

The Nighthawks pulled to within 13 on a pair of Nicholas Sparacino (Silver Spring, Md.) free throws with 17 seconds left but two Steiner foul shots allowed the Blazers to post a 77-62 victory.

Alverio recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Cecil Avant added 11 points on the strength of three makes from beyond the arc.

Sophomore forward David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J.) added 14 points to give Elms four scorers in double figures, while Cecil Avant dished out a game-best seven assists.

Smith led Newbury with 13 points, while Sanchez and Cobb finished with 11 each in the losing effort.

Elms returns to NECC action on Monday, Jan. 31 when it travels to Southern Vermont College for a 7:00 p.m. contest.