AMHERST, Mass. – Elms College junior guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) connected for 25 points for the second straight game but Plymouth State University's Petey Skevas (Wethersfield, Conn.) led four Panthers in double figures with 24 points to help lift Plymouth State to a 82-74 victory in the consolation game of the Ken Wright Memorial Invitational men's basketball tournament hosted by Amherst College.

With the loss, Elms slips to 0-2 to start its season, while Plymouth State improves to 2-1 overall.

In the opening 8:04, Elms posted a 12-7 lead before Plymouth State used a layup by Kevin Cressy (Penacook, N.H.) sparked a 21-4 run by the Panthers over the next nine minutes to give Plymouth State a 28-16 advantage.

A three-pointer by French with 3:08 remaining in the period halted the run while junior forward Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) hit the front-end of two free throws, and junior guard James Black (Baltimore, Md.) sank two free throws to pull Elms to within six at 28-22 with 2:00 minute to play.

The Panthers responded when Skevas delivered a layup and converted the and-one foul shot to extend the lead back to nine  (31-22) as Plymouth State closed out the half on a 7-0 run.

Plymouth State kept a double-digit edge throughout the first half of the second frame and led by as many as 20 points (55-35 at the 11:26 mark) before Elms begun to chip away at the lead.

Junior guard Walter Mfuko (Amherst, Mass.) swished a trey to start a Blazers' run that pulled them to within 12 at 57-45 with 9:13 left in the game.

Following a trey by Plymouth State's Jesse Sabolis (Stoughton, Mass.), Elms used a 16-5 run highlighted by three-pointers from French and senior guard Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn.) to help the Blazers narrow the gap to four at 65-61 with 3:47 remaining in the contest.

From there, Skevas was a stellar 10 for 10 from the free throw stripe as the Panthers outlasted Elms' final rally effort that featured a pair of freshman guard Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) layups, a dunk by junior forward Jamal Hulum (Norfolk, Va.) and a three-pointer each from French and Gonzalez as Plymouth State secured an eight-point 82-74 victory.

French added four assists, four steals and five rebounds to his 25-point output, while Gonzalez was 3 of 9 from beyond the arc off the bench to finish with 13 points.

Bason added eight points, Griffin collected a team-best six boards and Hulum added six points in the loss for Elms.

The Panthers were a sizzling 24 of 28 from the free throw stripe paced by Skevas' 14 for 15 showing at the line. He added a game-high 11 rebounds and passed out six assists, while Stephan Roberts added 14 points and six boards.

Sabolis netted 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field, while Mark MacGregor (Rochester, N.H.) followed with 10 points (including 4 of 5 foul shots) to lift Plymouth State to victory.

Elms returns to non-conference play on Tuesday, Nov. 22 when it travels to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with the Engineers.