CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College junior forward Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) scored a game-19 points and added a team-best nine rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench as the Blazers' reserves scored 54 points to help post a 72-48 victory over Lesley University in Tuesday evening's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.
With the win, Elms improves to 4-7 on the season, 3-0 in league play, while Lesley falls to 3-8 overall, 1-1 in NECC action.
In a game that saw Elms maintain a lead throughout the contest, Odunlami led three Blazers' bench players with double-figure point totals. Senior guard James Black (Baltimore, Md.) scored 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting from the field in 10 minutes, while freshman guard Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) was 4 of 7 from the floor and scored 10 points in 21 minutes of action. The Blazers shot 36.6-percent from the field in the game and were 17 of 24 from the stripe (70.8-percent).
Lesley was led by Mike Kaufman's (Boca Raton, Fla.) 13 points off the bench while Kris Bennett (Inglewood, Calif.) added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the losing effort.
Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, N.J.) chipped in seven points, Niklaus Oliver (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) secured seven boards, and Oliver, Brian Glodowski (Roseville, Calif.) and Valentine Emebo (Dorchester, Mass.) added two blocked shots each.
After a defensive struggle over the first 11 minutes of the game, Elms built on its 12-6 lead and extended that cushion to 21-11 following a three-pointer by senior guard Walter Mfuko (Amherst, Mass.) before buckets by Glodowski and Anthony Mattocks (Sarasota, Fla.) pulled the Lynx to within six (21-15) with 2:50 to play in the opening stanza.
The Blazers then scored seven unanswered points including four from Odulami and three from Black to close out the half with a 28-15 lead.
Elms maintained a double-digit lead for the duration of the game and led by as many as 28 with 12:14 remaining in the contest.
The Blazers outscored Lesley 42-10 in the paint, scored 30 points on 26 Lynx turnovers – 18 of which came on the fast break, and held a 14-7 advantage in second chance opportunities.
The Lynx return to action on Thursday, January 10th when they play host to Becker College at 8:00p in NECC action.