The Blazers (18-8 overall) won their fifth straight game and advanced to Friday night’s NAC Tournament semifinals against Husson College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Freshman guard Charlie Viana (Valley Stream, NY) led all scorers with 21 points, including 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range for the Badgers, who finished 5-21 overall.
Elms College jumped out to a 38-22 lead at intermission, but Johnson State battled its way back into the game and trailed just 57-50 with 4:25 remaining following a fast break layup by junior forward Billy Durbrow (Washington, VT).
Davis, however, responded with a pair of 3-pointers in the next 63 seconds, and Hite followed with a fast break basket to extend the Blazers’ lead to 65-50 with 2:48 remaining.
Freshman forward Renato Lindmets (Springfield, MA) tallied 16 points, Davis finished with 12 points – all on 3-pointers, and sophomore guard John Ancrum (Harlem, NY) added nine points and a game-high 10 assists in the victory.
Junior forward Frank Ponte (Harwinton, CT) finished with 15 points and Durbrow added 10 points as the other Badgers to reach double figures in the loss.
Newspaper Box Score Johnson State College vs Elms College 2/22/05 7:00 p.m. at Chicopee, MA At Chicopee, MA ELMS COLLEGE 73, JOHNSON STATE COLLEGE 58 JOHNSON STATE COLLEGE (5-21 overall) VIANA, Charlie 8-15 0-0 21; PONTE, Frank 6-11 3-7 15; DURBROW, Billy 5-11 0-1 10; SWEENEY, Sean 4-11 0-2 9; SANTARCANGELO, Tim 1-4 0-0 3; MASUMBUKO, Emmanuel 0-2 0-2 0; LEVINE, Shane 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-58 3-12 58. ELMS COLLEGE (18-8 overall) Randall Hite 8-12 2-4 19; Renato Lindmets 4-8 8-14 16; Justin Davis 4-10 0-0 12; John Ancrum 4-11 0-1 9; Lonnie Branyon III 2-8 3-4 7; Kyle Seyboth 2-9 0-0 4; Nathan Hawes 2-3 0-0 4; Anthony Bernard 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 26-62 15-25 73. Johnson State College......... 22 36 - 58 Elms College.................. 38 35 - 73 3-point goals-Johnson State College 7-15 (VIANA, Charlie 5-8; SANTARCANGELO, Tim 1-2; SWEENEY, Sean 1-5), Elms College 6-22 (Justin Davis 4-9; John Ancrum 1-5; Randall Hite 1-1; Kyle Seyboth 0-7). Fouled out--Johnson State College-None, Elms College-None. Rebounds-Johnson State College 38 (LEVINE, Shane 9), Elms College 43 (Lonnie Branyon III 13). Assists-Johnson State College 9 (SWEENEY, Sean 5), Elms College 12 (John Ancrum 10). Total fouls-Johnson State College 20, Elms College 13. A-156 Elms College advances to Friday's NAC Tournament semifinals