CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) hit on 6 of 11 from beyond the arc and netted a game-high 25 points to help the Blazers orchestrate a 94-69 victory over Southern Vermont College in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.
With the win, Elms improves to 17-7 overall, 10-3 in league action, while Southern Vermont slides to 14-10 on the season, 8-5 in NECC play.
In the opening 20 minutes, the sides battled to five lead changes and one tie score before as Elms used 24 points from its bench, including 14 from Gonzalez on the strength of four treys to stake a 10-point 43-33 lead at intermission.
The Blazers shot 44.7-percent from the field in the first period as sophomore guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) contributed 11 of his 23 total points in the stanza.
Purcelle converted a pair of layups and senior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) added a bucket underneath to extend Elms' lead to 16 (49-33) just 1:10 into the second frame, before Southern Vermont answered with a 6-0 run to pull the Mountaineers to within 10 at 49-39 capped by a Taeshon Johnson (Pittsfield, Mass.) layup with 15:57 left in the game.
Leading 55-45 with 12:11 to play, senior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) swished the back end of a pair foul shots to spark an 8-0 run that featured a strike from three-point range from senior guard Cecil Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) to set the score at 63-45 at the 11:08 mark.
Southern Vermont's Derrick Cenicola (Hamilton, N.Y.) delivered a layup and drilled a pair of free throws to bring the Mountaineers to within 13 (65-52) with 8:31 left in the contest, but that's as close as Elms scored 15 of the next 21 points to stake a commanding 80-58 lead with 5:37 on the clock.
From there Elms maintained at least a 20-point lead and freshman guard Joshua Mills (Windsor, Conn.) sank a three-pointer at the 1:00 mark to give the Blazers their largest lead of the game of 28 points (92-64).
Elms' senior guard Arsenio Avant (Southwest Ranches, Fla.) ignited the Blazers' offense handing out seven assists and contributing seven points.
Cecil Avant added five points, five assists and three steals, Alverio hauled in a team-high nine rebounds, and Martinez netted 12 points and registered three blocked shots in the winning effort.
Southern Vermont received a team-high, 17-point output from Ben Naaktgeboren (Cambridge, N.Y.), while Johnson and Lance Spratling (Pittsfield, Mass.) added 15 and 12 points respectively.
Naaktgeboren also secured a game-best 15 rebounds, just one ahead of Johnson who finished with 14.
Elms concludes its regular season slate on Saturday, Feb. 19 when it hosts Wheelock College at 4:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.