Elms Hands Men's Basketball With Setback In Coaches Versus Cancer Consolation Game

2010 Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament Page | All-Tournament Team

Worcester, MA --- Elms College sophomore Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, NY) swished a game-high 18 points to help lead the Blazers to a 60-55 victory over Worcester State in Sunday afternoon's Coaches versus Cancer Cancer consolation bracket game.

With the win, Elms improves to 5-3 on the season while Worcester State falls to 1-8 overall. In the Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament title game, Buffalo State defeated Colby-Sawyer, 69-66.

Trailing 50-49 with 7:13 to play in the contest, Elms sophomore David McDaniel (Plainfield, NJ) nailed a jumper that sparked a 10-1 run by the Blazers, highlighted by a three-pointer by junior Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, CT), a jumper by senior Arsenio Avant (Southwest Ranches, FL) and capped by a trey from senior Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) to give Elms a 58-51 lead with 3:35 to play in the game.

Back-to-back layups by junior Frank Stephenson (Fall River, MA) and freshman Emmanuel Ferraud (Worcester, MA) pulled the Lancers to within three with 1:18 remaining in the period (58-55), but a pair of free throws by Purcelle with six ticks on the clock sealed the victory for the Blazers.

The game opened in back-and-forth fashion with 13 lead changes and two ties as neither team gained more than a three-point advantage over the first 16 minutes.

Trailing by one at 19-18, junior Clayton Timas (New Bedford, MA) delivered a dunk that ignited a run of eight straight points for Worcester State that put the Lancers up 26-19 with 4:04 on the clock in the opening frame.

Elms' junior Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, CT) converted a layup in the paint that started an 8-1 run for the Blazers that evened the contest at 27-27 with 25 seconds to play before senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) connected for jumper with three ticks left to give Worcester State a 29-27 edge at halftime.

Elms controlled play throughout much of the second half, posting its largest lead of the game, 46-36, at the 11:40 mark following a pair of Purcelle free throws.

Worcester State answered with a 13-2 run to take a brief one-point lead at 49-48 with 7:34 left before the Blazers went on their final run to earn the win.

WSU's All-Tournament selection Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) recorded his second double-double in as many contests with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Douillette tallied nine points and 11 boards with four steals while Ferraud added 12 boards.

Purcelle paced the Blazers with 18 points on a 7-for-18 performance from the field while Alverio earned an All-Tournament nod with his fifth double-double of the season as he scored 13 points, grabbed 11 caroms and blocked four shots. Avant added equal totals of eight points and eight rebounds in the triumph for Elms.

The Blazers used 14 steals to convert 28 Lancer turnovers into 26 points while Worcester State held a commanding advantage in points in the paint (42-28). Both squads were even in second chance points (14-14). Elms only converted four of their 19 attempts from beyond the arc (21 percent).

Neither team got to the free throw line as the Blazers went four-for-six at the charity stripe while the Blue and Gold only got nine attempts in the entire contest. Until the final two minutes of play, there were only 12 fouls called in the entire contest.

Both teams will continue play over the December break. Worcester State will travel to Anna Maria for a date at high noon on New Years Eve while Elms will play in the Purple and Gold Tournament at Williams and play Clarkson on January 2 at 4 PM.

Portions of Release Courtesy of Elms College Sports Information