MEN'S BASKETBALL SOARS PAST WESTFIELD STATE, 81-71

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WESTFIELD, MA, Nov. 20, 2007 - Elms College sophomore point guard Juan Galdon (Holyoke, MA) netted a collegiate career-high 21 points and the Blazers bolted out to a 15-point halftime lead en route to an 81-71 win over Westfield State in Tuesday night's non-conference men's basketball game at the Woodward Center.

With the win, Elms College improved to 3-0 for the first time in the program's 10-year history. The Blazers' previous best starts were 3-1 in 2002-03 and 5-1 in 2004-05.

Galdon, who has posted team-high point totals in each of the Blazers' first three games, was 7 of 15 shooting from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range in just 23 minutes.

The Blazers raced out to a 44-29 lead behind 50-percent first half shooting (18 of 36).

A layup and a pair of free throws by senior forward Nate Hawes (New Hope, MN) and freshman guard Juan Alverio's (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) 3-pointer in the opening 2:03 of the second half gave the Blazers their largest lead of the night at 51-31.

The Owls used a 7-0 run late in the second half to pull to within 75-67 with 3:04 remaining, but the Blazers knocked down six free throws over the final 2:43 en route to just their third win in 11 all-time meetings against Westfield State.

Hawes registered the game's only double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, junior guard Aswad Thomas (Hartford, CT) finished with 11 points and Alverio added 10 points and a game-high five blocks.

Junior guard Dave Jaehnig (Quincy, MA) led all scorers with 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting for the Owls in the losing effort.

Elms College returns to non-conference play when it hosts WPI next Wednesday, November 28. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at the Maguire Center.