BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College Mountaineers men's basketball team opened its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) schedule and held its home-opener Tuesday night at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.

The Mountaineers also had a chance to win their first game of the young season as they held the ball with 15 seconds left in a 62-62 tie game. However, an Elms blocked shot and a Charles Bason (Riverdale, Md.) layup with seven seconds left helped the Elms College Blazers defeat the SVC, 64-62.

Southern Vermont was led by Taeshon Johnson (Charlotte, N.C.), as he scored 21 points and recorded six rebounds. Johnson was joined in double figures by three teammates, Travis Severs (Bennington, Vt.), Tavaris Jenkins (Chicago, Ill.) and Jermaine Campbell (Bridgeport, Conn.). Severs added 11 for the Mountaineers as Jenkins and Campbell each had 10. Campbell also added a game high six assists for SVC.

The Blazers were led by Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) and Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) who scored 17 and 16 points respectively. Odunlami also grabbed eight rebounds and French dished out three assists. Bason's layup was his only points of the game but proved to be the most important for the Blazers.

SVC made a run at the end of each half that kept it close. Elms led 28-14 with 4:22 remaining in the first half before the Mountaineers ended the half on a 14-3 run, sending the two teams into the break at 31-28 in favor of the Blazers. The Mountaineers' run was highlighted by five points from Campbell and four points from Johnson.

In the second half, SVC trailed again by double digits late in the game. Elms led 61-50 with 3:19 left in the game before Severs scored eight points along with a Johnson layup and two Campbell free throws tied the game at 62. The Mountaineer run ended before they could take the lead though, and Bason was able to be heroic on the other end.

Southern Vermont (0-7, 0-1) will return home on Thursday when it hosts Union College in non-conference action at 8 p.m. Elms (2-5, 1-0) will host Hartwick College on Thursday at 6 p.m.