Men's Basketball To Host Becker College

The Matchup: Becker College Hawks (12-7, 8-0 NECC) at Elms College Blazers (15-6, 8-2 NECC)
Date: Tuesday, February 9
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Site: Picknelly Arena (Chicopee, Mass.)
Click here for directions to Elms College
All-Time Series: Elms College leads the all-time series, 19-8.
Last Meeting: Becker posted an 81-68 victory over Elms earlier this season on January 16, in Leicester, Mass.

Setting The Scene: Elms enters Tuesday’s showdown with Becker having won seven of its last eight games, including New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) victories over Southern Vermont College (74-56 on Feb. 1) and Daniel Webster College (81-61) on Feb. 6. Senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) netted a game-high 16 points against the Mountaineers and a game-best 20 points against the Eagles to pace the two wins for Elms.

Scouting The Opposition: Becker takes the court Tuesday riding an eight-game winning streak, all against NECC opponents. The Hawks downed Southern Vermont, 87-72 in their most recent outing, and received 22-point efforts from Raji Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) and Matt Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.). Patrides came off the bench and swished six three-pointers to help spark Becker to its 15-point victory over the Mountaineers. In Becker’s Jan. 16 meeting with Elms, Leggett poured in a game-high 19 points and added a game-best 11 rebounds in the win. Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) drained 14 points, while Trey Jacobs (Lexington Park, Md.) and DJ Exum (New London, Conn.) chipped in 13 and 11 points respectively to give the Hawks four starters in double figures.

Last Time Against Becker: In Elms’ loss to Becker earlier this season, Maldonado notched a team-best 15 points, 12 of which came in the second frame. Senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) finished with 12 points, while junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) added 10 points and three blocked shots in the losing effort. Junior forward Juan Alverio (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico) snagged a team-high eight rebounds off the bench for the Blazers. Sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) and sophomore guard Luis Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) earned eight and nine points respectively for Elms.

A Look Ahead: Saturday, Feb. 13 marks the squad’s final regular season home game of the 2009-10 campaign and will be a “pink-out” day at Picknelly Arena. Saturday’s contest against Mitchell College will also serve as senior day for the Blazers. Elms will honor its five graduating seniors, Chris Hartmann (Canberra, ACT), Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.), Maldonado, Mathis and Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, Mass.) prior to the contest.

Keeping Track Of Blazers' Athletics: The latest news, notes, and statistics on all 15 of Elms College's intercollegiate athletic programs can be found on the web at http://athletics.elms.edu/landing/index.