Mitchell College Posts Basketball Losses

Elms College made a late game rally to defeat Mitchell College in a men's basketball game on Thursday, while the women's team's late push couldn't get past Daniel Webster College. The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:

Men's Basketball: Elms 69, Mitchell 59

Elms (10-5 overall, 5-1 NECC) scored 12 of the game’s final 14 points to sew up its third straight win. Andre French (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) led all scorers with 26 points and shot 6-for-8 from three-point range to pace the Blazers. He also added six rebounds, four assists and four steals on a night when he was the only Elms player to score in double figures.

Two players scored in double digits for the Mariners (5-8 overall, 3-4 NECC). Sophomore Joshua Ford (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Anthony) netted 16 points and added a game-high 15 rebounds to record a double-double while senior Enoch Contreras (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca) contributed 15 points and four assists.

A free throw by Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region) put Elms ahead 57-51 with 5:42 to play in the contest, its biggest lead of the second half up to that point. Mitchell then responded with six straight points, tying the game on a fast-break lay-up by Ford with 3:19 remaining. 

A quick timeout gave Elms a chance to regroup, and French righted the ship on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer that sparked an 11-0 run. Griffin accounted for five points during the spurt, and a free throw by Bryant Corcoran (Waterbury, Conn./Sacred Heart) capped the stretch with Elms ahead 68-57 with 36 seconds to go.

Mitchell made just one of its final seven shot attempts in the final 2:29 and shot just 28 percent from the floor in the stanza. The Mariners shot 4-for-20 from three-point range in the contest while Elms chimed in with an 11-for-27 effort.

Ford scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half to pace the Mariners to a 36-32 lead at the break. French had 11 at the intermission and added 15 more in the second half, nine of which came from beyond the arc. David McDaniel (Plainfield, N.J./Rutgers Prep) finished with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Blazers while Daniel Gonzalez (East Windsor, Conn./East Windsor) chipped in with nine points.

Mitchell returns to action at Newbury College on Saturday at 2 p.m. Elms will next play at Daniel Webster College on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Women's Basketball: Daniel Webster 66, Mitchell 60

The Eagles (9-5 overall, 5-2 NECC) held off a late charge to post their fourth straight win, paced by a career-high 23 points from Sarah Paternostro (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury/UConn-Avery Point). Alycia Gervais (Windham, Conn./Windham) and Emily Travis (Swansea, Mass./Case) also finished in double figures for Daniel Webster with 15 and 13 points, respectively, while the former notched a double-double with 10 rebounds.

Freshman Sheanna James (Waterbury, Conn./Kaynor Tech) led the Mariners (5-9 overall, 4-4 NECC) with a game-high 25 points on 9-for-18 shooting. Senior Bianca Young (Bridgeport, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) also joined her in double figures with 13 points and added a team-high 10 rebounds.

Daniel Webster led by as many as nine points in the first half, but a 10-1 Mitchell run late in the stanza left the game tied at 25-25 with just 1:46 remaining. Gervais capped the first-half scoring with a lay-up with a minute to go that gave the Eagles a 27-25 lead at the break.

The second half featured six ties and four lead changes, though Daniel Webster pulled out to its largest lead of the day behind a 10-0 run midway through the period. Gervais started and stretch with an old-fashioned three-point play, and Paternostro and Travis each followed with a pair of buckets as the Eagles jumped out to a 55-45 lead with 8:33 to play.

Mitchell cut into the deficit on its very next possession, with James burying a jumper to spark a 12-3 run. James scored five points during the stretch and Young added four as the Mariners made it a one-point game at 58-57 with 5:05 to go.

Mitchell had chances to take the lead down the stretch but just couldn’t get shots to go down. The Mariners missed their last six field goal attempts and turned the ball over three times in the final 4:45.

Gervais scored the final four points for the Eagles and finished with seven in the stanza. Paternostro scored 14 of her 23 points in the second half and shot 9-for-14 from the field in the contest.

Mitchell will next play at Regis College on Saturday at 3 p.m. Daniel Webster returns to action at home against Elms College on Saturday at 3 p.m.