BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Newbury College men's basketball team fell to Elms College, 89-78, in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action, Tuesday evening. Senior guardJerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) led the way to the Blazers eighth victory of the season recording a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds as the Blazers improved to 6-1 in the conference.

It was a back-and-forth first half with neither team leading by more than five points. Midway through the first half, sophomore guard Marketh Biscoe (Leander, Texas) drove through the paint for the lay-up to tie the contest at eight before converting the three-point play to give the Nighthawks the one-point 9-8 lead. The Nighthawks gained control of the game for the next four minutes – leading by as many as five points with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Momentum quickly shifted over to the Blazer bench following a 9-0 Elms run capped off by trey from sophomore guard Andre Wright (Danbury, Conn.). But it was a crazy weather pattern with the shifting winds of momentum as the Nighthawks refusing to go away quietly.

Second half addition to the roster, sophomore forward Louis Neals (Manchester, Conn.) came off the Nighthawk bench and knocked down back-to-back three-pointer jumpers to give the Nighthawks a four-point, 32-28 lead. However, the Blazers and their two-minute offense ended the first half with a 9-0 run to lead 37-32 at the break.

After the Blazers extended their lead to seven points at the beginning of the second half, junior guard Joshua Oliver (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) brought them back in the game with back-to-back three-pointers to pull within three points of the lead. Moments later, he connected with fellow junior, forward Devin Johnson (Manchester, Conn.) atop the key to tie up the contest at 43 and force the blazers to call their first time out of the period.

The Blazers came out of the break and off a Nighthawk turnover to re-gain the lead and spun control over to the Elms bench. Over the next three minutes, they quickly built their largest lead of the contest, leading by 13, 66-53 with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation.

The Nighthawks answered with a 13-2 run capped off by a lay-up from senior guardChristian Sheridan (Chicago, Ill.) to pull within two points of the Blazers. But it was as close as they got as Elms had one last thrust in them at the tail end.

Sophomore guard Jeduan Langston (Roxbury, Mass.) led the Nighthawks with 18 points while dishing out a career single-game best six assists. Junior forward Kenny Ramos(Roxbury, Mass.) followed up with his sixth double-double of the season tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds while junior guard Ceejae Carter (Dorchester, Mass.) dished out five assists.

Wright came off the Elms bench and netted 16 points while junior guard Conny Ihearahu(Largo, Md.) followed up with 14 points. Sophomore guard Devonte Marshall (Springfield, Mass.) rounded out the Blazers in double figures with 13 points.

Newbury falls to 2-12 and 1-5 in conference play while Elms improves to 8-7 and 6-1 in the NECC. The Nighthawks return to the hard-court on Thursday evening when they look to sweep the season series against Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. Tip-off's at 8:00 p.m. The Blazers will also be in action Thursday night when they host Southern Vermont College at 7:00 p.m.  

Game Notes:

Newbury dominated the offensive glass with 13 offensive rebounds as they outscored Elms, 15-4 in second chance points…