POULTNEY, Vt. – Cameron Anderson (Charlottesville, Va.) scored 27 points and protected the rim by swatting three shots as Green Mountain men's basketball picked up its first win of the season emerging victorious, 100-97, over Elms College in the Keene State College Tip-Off Tournament Consolation Final on Sunday at Spaulding Gym. Anderson was named to the All-Tournament team for his performance over the weekend in which he averaged 24 points on 68 percent shooting while also posting eight rebounds and four blocks per game.
Green Mountain (1-1) battled back and forth with Elms (0-2) in the opening minutes of play with each team holding slim leads through the first half of the opening stanza. With the Eagles holding a slim two-point lead, 19-17, at the 10:05 mark; the team proceeded to stake an 11-point lead thanks to a 13-4 run over a three minute span capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Jared Carithers (Washington, D.C.) and Sampson Dale (Charlottesville, Va.) to make the score 32-21.
The ensuing Elms' timeout directly following the run lit a fire under the Blazers as they stormed back and gained the momentum taking a 36-34 lead with a 15-2 run of their own. Conny Ihearahu and Joshua Brunson each tallied four points during the run.
Jerry Buchanon would score the next six points for the Blazers before the half to give Elms a 44-37 lead until Daniel Gingsberg's (Charlottesville, Va.) three-pointer as time expired brought the Eagles to within four at 44-40 heading into the break.
The Eagles roared back out of the half tying the score at 49-49 on back-to-back layups by Anderson just under two minutes into the second half. Carithers gave GMC its first lead of the half directly following Anderson's second layup with a three-pointer.
Over the course of the next seven minutes, the game was a back-and-forth affair which saw five lead changes. Anderson's three-pointer at the 10:28 mark put an end to the lead change game as the Eagles regained the lead which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.
Dale's made jumper with 5:09 remaining gave the Eagles a comfortable 11-point lead at 90-79. The team endured a couple of runs by the Blazers, but secured the win in the end by making enough of its free throws to ice the game despite a last second desperation 3-pointer by Buchanon.
The Eagles were outrebounded 40-36 by the Blazers, but took good care of the ball in limiting the turnovers to just 12 with just five coming in the second half. GMC really took advantage of its second chance opportunities outscoring Elms 22-10 in those situations.
Anderson was again efficient from the field (9-of-12) while leading the team in scoring and recorded 23 of his 27 points in the second half. Five other Eagles posted double-digit scoring with four of the starters reaching the feat. Dale and Carithers both tied for the team lead in rebounds with six while posting 14 and 12 points, respectively. Thomas Brown (Charlottesville, Va.) once again made his living at the line hitting on seven free throws for 13 points while also dishing out six dimes. Ginsberg gave the Eagles some offense off the bench with 12 points while Javier Lugris (Madrid, Spain) posted 10 points and five rebounds.
Green Mountain will travel to Lesley for its next game on Wednesday with a tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m.