Story courtesy of Rob Palardy, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Seventeen second-half points from Elms College guard Juan Maldonado (HOLYOKE, Mass./Holyoke) lifted the Blazers over Lesley University 71-64 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play Tuesday evening. Lesley dropped to 4-9 (1-1 NECC) while Elms improved to 8-4 (2-0 NECC).

With the Blazers up just two points at 33-31 early in the second-half, Maldonado went off for 13 straight points with three consecutive three-pointers, a layup, and two free throws to give Elms a 46-33 advantage.

Following a 7-3 run by the Lynx, Lesley shaved the Elms lead to nine points at 49-40 and later brought the lead down to single digits at 56-47 with 7:06 remaining in the game.

Elms stretched their lead out to 15 points with 2:50 remaining after an 11-5 run by the Blazers.

Behind six points from Lesley’s Jesus Trejo (METHUEN, Mass./Methuen) and free throws from point guard John Sanchez (CARSON, Calif./Saint John Bosco), the Lynx cut the Blazers’ lead to seven with 44 seconds left on the clock but would not get any closer.

Trejo was one of our four double-digit scorers for the Lynx as he led the way with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Alex Green (BATON ROUGE, La./Robert E. Lee), Matt Grassa (EVERETT, Mass./Everett), and Bryant Itonyo (MEDFORD, Mass./Medford) had 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.

For Elms, Maldonado finished with 17 points while teammate Bryant Corcoran (WOLCOTT, Conn./Sacred Heart) had 14 points and eight assists.

Lesley returns to action on Saturday, January 16 for a 12:00 pm game at Newbury College. Elms travels to Becker College on the same day for a 3:00 pm start.