With the win, Salem State (25-3 overall), ranked 24th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, advanced to Saturday night’s 7:00 p.m. second round game at SUNY-Potsdam.
Elms College saw its team-record seven-game winning streak snapped to finish 20-9 overall. Those 20 victories also set a new team-mark for wins in a season.
“My kids played extremely hard and Salem’s kids played extremely hard,” Elms College men’s basketball coach Ed Silva stated. “A lot of people don’t give credit to Division III basketball, but anybody who came tonight saw a great college basketball game.”
Senior guard Kyle Seyboth (Seekonk, MA) dropped in a team-high 19 points, including four 3-pointers for the Blazers. Seyboth also became the school’s new all-time leading scorer with his first 3-pointer 10 minutes into the game. He broke Damien Bradley’s ’02 previous school record of 1,158 and finished his career at Elms College with 1,175 points.
Sophomore guard John Ancrum (Harlem, NY) had 17 points, including three 3-pointers and freshman forward Renato Lindmets (Springfield, MA) added 14 points to also reach double figures for the Blazers in the loss.
Junior forward Shawn Bloom (Springfield, MA) added 16 points, including several clutch shots late in the game for the Vikings in the victory.
The first half featured a total of nine lead changes, with neither team leading by more than seven points.
After Lindmets hit a 3-pointer to give the Blazers their first lead at 9-8, Salem State responded with consecutive 3-pointers by junior guard Wilkins Victor (Lawrence, MA) and senior guard Allen Reid (Southbridge, MA), and a layup by sophomore forward Tyler Lang (Franklin, MA) to take the largest lead of the half by either team at 16-9.
Lindmets finished the half with a reverse layup from the baseline to stake the Blazers to a 36-35 lead at intermission. The Blazers connected on 4 of 12 shooting from 3-point range in the opening half.
The Blazers then opened the first three minutes of the second half with a 9-3 run to extend their largest lead of the game at 45-38 following a 3-pointer by Ancrum, and a hook shot and layup by Lindmets.
Salem State kept within striking distance as it connected on 7 of 8 shooting from the free throw line in the first four minutes of the second half.
The Vikings then took their first lead of the second half with 4:44 remaining on a 3-pointer by Bloom. He then followed with a pair of jumpers in the next 90 seconds to extend Salem State’s lead to 67-62.
“Bloom is a scholarship player in my opinion,” Coach Silva said. “He made some big shots down the stretch that really hurt us.”
Although Ancrum answered with his final 3-pointer of the game with 2:57 left to pull the Blazers to within 67-65 with 2:57 remaining, Bloom followed with another jumper to extend the Vikings lead to 69-65 with 2:02 left.
The Blazers, however, did not go down without a fight. After being fouled on a 3-point attempt, Seyboth knocked down three free throws, and then added a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
Reid had one final answer, though, as he calmly drained all four of his free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the victory for the Vikings.
Newspaper Box Score Elms College vs Salem State College 3/3/04 7:00 p.m. at Salem, MA At Salem, MA SALEM STATE COLLEGE 74, ELMS COLLEGE 71 ELMS COLLEGE (20-9 overall) Kyle Seyboth 6-11 3-3 19; John Ancrum 6-20 2-2 17; Renato Lindmets 6-17 1-2 14; Lonnie Branyon III 4-8 0-0 8; Nathan Hawes 2-6 2-2 6; Anthony Bernard 2-6 0-0 4; Justin Davis 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 27-73 8-9 71. SALEM STATE COLLEGE (25-3 overall) Ifesinachi Anosike 5-8 11-16 21; Allen Reid 5-12 4-4 16; Shawn Bloom 7-15 0-0 16; Tyler Lang 3-6 2-4 9; Isaiah Bradshaw 3-7 0-0 6; Wilkins Victor 1-8 2-2 5; Willie Phillips 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 24-57 20-28 74. Elms College.................. 36 35 - 71 Salem State College........... 35 39 - 74 3-point goals-Elms College 9-25 (Kyle Seyboth 4-8; John Ancrum 3-9; Justin Davis 1-5; Renato Lindmets 1-3), Salem State College 6-23 (Allen Reid 2-7; Shawn Bloom 2-8; Tyler Lang 1-1; Wilkins Victor 1-4; Willie Phillips 0-1; Isaiah Bradshaw 0-2). Fouled out--Elms College-None, Salem State College-None. Rebounds-Elms College 42 (Renato Lindmets 8; Nathan Hawes 8), Salem State College 40 (Ifesinachi Anosike 20). Assists-Elms College 11 (John Ancrum 6), Salem State College 13 (Wilkins Victor 7). Total fouls-Elms College 17, Salem State College 13. A-750 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament First Round: Salem State advanced to the second round on March 5th at SUNY-Potsdam