Elms College 2008-09

Silva Alverio Thomas Galdon Jones Sylvia 22 Alverio Juan 6'5'' (196) F 3 Thomas Aswad 6'0'' (183) G 5 Galdon Juan 5'4'' (163) G 31 Jones Ellis 6'2'' (188) G 44 Sylvia Austin 6'6'' (198) F 10 Avant Arsenio 5'5'' (165) G 34 Holder Antoine 6'4'' (193) F 45 Coifman Aaron 7'0'' (213) C 11 Santiago Luis 5'7'' (170) G 33 Hartmann Chris 6'6'' (198) F 42 Waite Wayne 6'5'' (196) G 32 Mathis Javon 6'5'' (196) F 51 Berry Malakie 6'4'' (193) F 20 Corcoran Bryant 6'2'' (188) G 21 Walker Michael 6'6'' (198) F 23 Thomas Ronald 6'3'' (191) F 24 Esile Joe 6'3'' (191) G

Sophomore guard Gonzalez (East Windsor, CT) netted a season-high 19 points, junior guard Juan Galdon (5'4''-G) (Holyoke, MA) dropped in 18 points and top-seeded Elms College used a clutch run late in the first half to pull away to a 105-76 win over second-seeded Becker College in the championship game of the inaugural New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Maguire Center.
Elms College, ranked 12th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, extended its school-record win streak to 16 straight and improved to a program-best 26-1.
The Blazers must now await either a Pool B or Pool C bid into the this week's NCAA Division III Championship, as the newly-formed NECC is currently in the first of a mandatory two-year waiting period for an automatic qualifier. Pairings will be announced by the NCAA live on Monday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m.
Becker, which went just 3-22 just two years ago, finished 19-8 overall. The Hawks will also await a possible bid into either the NCAA Division III Championship or ECAC Division III New England Championship.
Senior guard Aswad Thomas (6'0''-G)(Hartford, CT), who began the week as the nation's NCAA Division III leader in steals, added a season-high 15 assists to go along with a game-high six steals and was named NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Galdon, who is now just 36 points away from surpassing Kyle Seyboth '05 (1,175) as the program's all-time leading scorer, connected on a sizzling 7 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
The Blazers held a slim 28-24 lead following a layup by Becker sophomore forward Rajai Leggett (6'1''-F) (New Haven, CT) with 8:07 left in the first half.
From there, Elms College erupted for 25-9 run over the next 6:08 to take its largest lead of the half at 53-33. Senior guard Joe Esile (6'3''-G) (Milford, CT) knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, junior forward Javon Mathis (6'5''-F) (West Hartford, CT) converted a pair of layups and Gonzalez added a jumper and 3-pointer to help key the run.
The Blazers converted 14 offensive rebounds in the first half into a 17-3 advantage in second chance points and also added nine first half 3-pointers to take a 59-40 lead into intermission.
From there, Elms College shot 51.5-percent (17 for 33) in the second half while limiting the Hawks to just 33.3-percent (12 for 36).
For the game, the Blazers connected on 13 of 31 (41.9-percent) from 3-point range and also held decisive advantages in bench scoring (64-14), points off turnovers (37-12) and second change points (25-13).
For Becker, Leggett finished with a game-high 21 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team along with senior guard Travis Suber (5'10''-G) of Becker College (Springfield, MA), the NECC's Player of the Year, who finished with 18 points.
Senior guard Antoine Holder (6'4''-F) (Hartford, CT) finished with 13 points in just 12 minutes of action, while Mathis and senior forward Ronald Thomas (6'3''-F) (Chicago, IL) added 10 points apiece as the other three Elms College players to reach double figures in the victory.
Courtesy of Elms


Tournament Final: Elms - Becker 105-76
Tournament Semifinals:
Elms - Wheelock 94-74
Becker - Daniel Webster 74-71

NECC All-Tournament MVP: Aswad Thomas of Elms College

NECC All-Tournament Team 2008-09

Suber Galdon Thomas Hanson Karnik

NECC All-Tournament Team
Rajai Leggett of Becker
Travis Suber of Becker
Chris Hanson (6'2''-G) of Daniel Webster
Juan Galdon of Elms College
Sherard Robbins (6'5''-F/C) of Wheelock

NECC 1st Team
Travis Suber of Becker
Juan Galdon of Elms
Aswad Thomas of Elms
Chris Hanson of Daniel Webster
Joe Karnik (6'6''-F) of Southern Vermont

NECC 2nd Team
Eric Murray of Mitchell
Brian Inge (6'3''-G) of Daniel Webster
Javon Mathis of Elms
Sherard Robbins of Wheelock
Kevin Cleveland of Newbury

NECC All-Honorable Mention Team
Dejohn Exum (5'9''-G) of Becker
Jesus Trejo of Lesley
Walky Magliore of Newbury
Jenel Russell of Mitchell
Trey Jacobs (6'6''-C) of Becker
Brendan Kordana (6'0''-G) of Southern Vermont

NECC Player of the Year: Travis Suber of Becker
NECC Rookie of the Year: Terrance Favors (6'3''-G/F) of Becker
NECC Coach of the Year: Ed Silva of Elms College