Blazers Outrun Nighthawks

The Newbury College Men's Basketball lost an NECC conference game to visiting Elms College by a score of 78-59 today in Brookline, MA.  While the Nighthawks saw three players score in double figures, the Blazers received contributions from 14 of their student-athletes allowing them to pull away with the victory. 

The first half saw aggressive and intense defense on both sides of the floor as the teams combined for less than 20 points in the first ten minutes of play.  Elms exhibited greater success from the perimeter connecting on five three-pointers, while the Nighthawks missed on all of only five attempts going into the locker room with a ten point deficit. 

Elms ran away with the game in the second half, as it appeared that Newbury had simply run out of gas.  The Blazers shot 46.2% from behind the arc and an overall 58.6% from the field.  The Nighthawks saw a solid effort from Husain Abdul-Ghaffar (Springfield, MA/New Leadership Charter) who scored 12 total points, six of which came from the free throw line.  Teammates John Rowley Jr. (Hartford, CT/Rockville) and Kevin Cleveland (Lynn, MA/Lynn) recorded 14 and 12 points, respectively but it would not be enough to overtake the powerful Blazers.  Elms was led by Dan Gonzalez (East Windsor, CT/East Windsor) and Ronald Thomas (Chicago, IL/Crane Technical) who each scored 11 points and saw a substantial rebounding effort from former Nighthawk Javon Mathis (West Hartford, CT/Plainville) who ripped down eight boards, in addition to nine points. 

Today's contest also served to honor survivors and all those involved in the fight against breast cancer.  In particular, a moment of silence was observed to honor former NC State Women's Basketball Coach Sandra Kay Yow and others who have recently lost her battle to the disease.

Newbury hosts Becker College on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 as they continue their quest for a playoff spot.  Game time is 7:00 PM.