CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) scored 21 second-half points to help lift the second-seed Blazers to a 77-66 victory over No. 7 Curry College and advance to the semifinal round of the 2009-10 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Tournament Wednesday at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 22-6 on the season and will take on sixth-seeded Husson University (16-11) in the semifinal round of the ECAC Championship tournament on Saturday, March 6 at 7:00 p.m. The Eagles downed No. 3 Plymouth State University 70-62 in opening round action to secure their matchup with Blazers. Curry, meanwhile, concludes its campaign at 15-14 overall.

Top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University outlasted No. 8 Wentworth Institute of Technology, 64-59 and will host the semifinals and championship round contests. The Warriors will take on No. 4 Becker College in semifinal action on Saturday, March 6 at 4:00 p.m. The Hawks ousted No. 5 Framingham State from tournament action with a 77-75 victory.

Trailing 34-31 2:12 into second frame, Blazers’ sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) buried a three-pointer to knot the game at 34-34. Following a Curry free throw by Chris Bonadies (Medfield, Mass.), Maldonado struck from beyond the arc to put Elms up 37-35 at the 18:28 mark.

Curry regained the lead and led by as many as four at 43-39 with 14:21 to play in the contest before the Blazers answered with 9-0 run that featured five points from senior forward Javon Mathis (East Harford, Conn.) and two each from Maldonado and sophomore guard Luis Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) to set the score at 48-43 with 11:43 remaining.

The Colonels’ Mark Mastrullo (Billerica, Mass.) netted all of Curry’s next 10 points to highlight a 10-3 run that put the Colonels ahead 53-51. Maldonado answered with a trey that ignited a 12-5 run by the Blazers. Maldonado connected on two more three-pointers to highlight the stretch that gave Elms a 63-58 cushion with 6:10 left in the second stanza.

A mid-range jumper by Curry’s Jarrell Jackson (Brockton, Mass.) at the 4:33 mark pulled the Colonels to within one at 63-61, but Elms sealed the victory by scoring 14 of the next 19 points.

After being held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, Maldonado exploded for a game-high 21 points, highlighted by six treys.

In the opening period, Elms led by as many as 15 behind 13 points from Mathis. Trailing 31-19 with 4:15 in the frame, Curry mounted a furious rally, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 32-31 lead at intermission. Philippe Jourdain (Cambridge, Mass.) led the charge with seven points, while Mastrullo, Michael Worrick (North Grafton, Mass.) and Michael D'Amato (Redding, Conn.) added three each during the span.

Mathis finished with a double-double pouring in 20 points and hauling in a team-high 10 rebounds, while senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) added 12 points and snagged six boards.

Corcoran dished out six assists and recorded eight rebounds, while junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) and Santiago finished with eight points apiece.

Mastrullo led four Colonels’ players in double figures with 16 points, while Jourdain notched 15 points and a game-best 11 rebounds.

Jackson and Rodney Bennett (Mattapan, Mass.) contributed 12 and 10 each in the losing effort, while Bonadies added nine rebounds. (Game recap courtesy of Elms College Sports Information)

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