CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Lesley University senior Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, N.J.) left his home floor with an exclamation point as he broke the Lesley program single-game scoring record with a career-high 41 points on Senior Night at the Nicholas Athletic Center, but a ferocious second half push by the Lynx fell short as visiting Elms College hung on for a 79-71 victory in New England Collegiate Conference play. The win improves Elms to 9-11 on the season and 8-4 in conference play while Lesley drops to 2-11 in the NECC.
Rosa's record-setting performance snapped the previous record of 37 points set by Toby Brittain on January 25, 2006 against Mount Ida College. The senior finished 12-of-22 from the floor and knocked down a career-best seven three-pointers – one shy of the Lesley program record – while adding eight rebounds, two assists, and a game-best three steals on the night. Joining him in double-figures was sophomore Jacob DiDomenico (N. Providence, R.I.) who added 11 points and eight boards while fellow sophomore Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) chipped in with seven points.
Elms junior Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) nearly matched Rosa's performance as he finished with a team-high 35 points on the evening, shooting 11-of-16 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Senior Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) dumped in 20 points, 14 of which came in the second stanza, to go with four rebounds while sophomore Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) added six points and corralled a game-best 13 boards.
The Blazers sprinted out of the gate as they opened up an 18-2 lead over the first seven minutes of play. Buchanon led the charge, knocking down three of his first four shots to lead the guests with seven points during the streak. With just over six minutes to play in the half, the Blazers held a 27-10 edge before Rosa pumped some life into the Lynx with a pair of triples to spark a 7-2 run as the hosts cut the deficit to 12, 29-17.
Elms answered right back with a 12-2 streak over the next three minutes as a trey from Lockett pushed the Blazers to their biggest lead of the game, 41-21, with just under a minute to go in the half. Toney cut the lead down to 15 as he scored the final five points of the half and the Lynx went into the locker room trailing 41-26.
The Blazers were on fire as they hit on 50-percent of their shot attempts in the half while holding the Lynx to just 30-percent shooting in the opening twenty minutes.
Rosa put the Lynx on his back after halftime, leading Lesley on a 17-6 run over the first seven minutes of play to quickly cut the deficit to four, 47-43. Rosa accounted for all but four of Lesley's points during the run as he knocked down his first five shots of the half.
The Lynx stayed right on the heels of the Blazers throughout the second half, pulling to within three points three separate times, but Elms would not give up a lead.
Lesley cut the Elms lead to within two points twice in the final four minutes, but Elms had an answer on each ensuing possession to push the lead back to four. Buchanon was huge for the Blazers down the stretch as he knocked down 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 45-seconds to seal the victory for the Blazers.
Each team was playing the front-end of back-to-back games this weekend. The Lynx will travel to NECC foe Mitchell College tomorrow at 2:00p while the Blazers will also be in conference play as they play host to Regis College at 3:00p.