1/25/08

Men's basketball slips vs. Elms

FARMINGTON -- Elms College overcame horrid shooting with a pressuring defense to snatch a 60-57 win over the University of Maine at Farmington this evening in Dearborn Gymnasium in North Atlantic Conference men's basketball action.

The Beavers dropped to 8-9 overall and 4-3 in the NAC. Farmington is scheduled to host Becker College at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Blazers improved to 10-6 (3-2) with a trip to Thomas  College on tap for Saturday.

Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) led the Blazers with 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Joe Esile (Milford, CT) chipped in 12 points in the win. Elms made 12 steals, including five from Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT).

Sean Fry (Jay, ME) paced the Beavers with 14 points, but Farmington was derailed by 26 turnovers, despite outshooting the Blazers 42.6 percent (20-47) to 30.8 (20-65). Ted Neil (Strong, ME) drained three 3-pointers for nine points, while Josh Tanguay (Gorham, ME) grabbed eight boards to lead the team.

A tight game throughout with the Blazers taking a 28-25 edge into intermission, Elms grabbed the lead for good with 9:27 left in regulation on a three-point play by Galdon to make it 47-46. The lead never grew more than six points and the Beavers clawed back into the game with a Matt St. John (Wayne, ME) drive-and-layup cutting the lead to 58-57 with just over a minute to go.

The Beavers had a chance to take the lead with 27 seconds left in the game, but Thomas picked off an entry pass and Esile knocked down a pair of free throw attempts to seal the victory.