CHICOPEE, MA - The Wheelock College men's basketball team trailed by only seven points with fewer than five minutes remaining on Saturday at regional power Elms College before dropping its regular-season finale, 82-65, during a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) contest in Picknelly Arena.

The Wildcats, now 10-15 overall and 6-8 in the league, will hold down the fifth seed in the upcoming NECC Tournament. They travel to No. 4 Newbury College on Tuesday evening for a quarterfinal contest. The Blazers, who won the last two NECC Tournaments and have gone to five of the past six NCAA Tournaments, are 18-7 and 11-3. Elms, which will be the second seed in the postseason, is ranked eighth in the NCAA Northeast region poll.

Junior Eric Rice (Woburn, MA/Woburn) paced the Wildcats with 18 points and two blocks in 25 minutes, while classmate Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington) totaled 11 points, six boards and five assists. Sophomore Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, MA/Weston) approached a double-double with eight points and 11 caroms, junior Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) had seven points and three assists, and classmate Victor Kashouh (Providence, RI/Classical) hauled in eight rebounds.

Elms received 15 points and 14 rebounds from senior Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico/Calusa Prep), while classmate Edgar Martinez (Springfield, MA/Central) also notched 15 points. Junior Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, CT/East Windsor) shot 4-of-7 from three-point range in recording 12 points during 15 minutes as a reserve.

Wheelock trailed only 36-32 at halftime before the Blazers pushed their lead out to 11, but the Wildcats crept back into the contest with quick spurts. Down 56-45 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining, the visitors scored five straight points in a 1:37 span, with senior Patsy DiNuzzo's (Beaver, PA/Beaver) lay-up at 8:30 making it 56-50. Elms again stretched its advantage to 11 points, but a 6-2 run in a matter of 51 seconds kept Wheelock within 63-56. A Hudson jumper at 4:56 provided the final seven-point margin, as the hosts knocked down two three-pointers 31 seconds apart and never again led by fewer than 11 points.

In the opening stanza, the Wildcats fell behind by as many as seven points before forging ahead. With his team down 11-4 by 14:43, Rice knocked down a pair of three-pointers to key a 12-3 run, drilling the go-ahead trey at 11:34 to make it 16-14. Pierce added two hoops during the run. The teams weathered five ties in the opening half, as a Hudson dunk at 10:05 broke the second knot prior to a 4-0 Elms run. Sophomore Adam Russo's (Arlington, MA/Arlington) lay-in deadlocked the teams at 20, and senior Daniel Main (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale) made it 22 apiece before Gonzalez hit a three at 6:46, giving the Blazers the last lead.