BENNINGTON, Vt. – Southern Vermont College could not convert a game-tying three-pointer with 10 seconds left to play as the Mountaineers fell 73-70 to Elms College Saturday evening in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball action at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.

The win improves Elms' record to 8-10 overall, 6-3 in NECC play, while the loss drops Southern Vermont to 12-6, 6-3 in the conference.

The Mountaineers were led by a season and game-high 22 points from freshman guard Eddie Mack III (Hartford, Conn.) on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point distance. Two players paced the visitors with junior forward Kenny Lockett (Atlanta, Ga.) and graduate guard Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) each scoring 18. Blazer senior guard Isaiah Odunlami (Providence, R.I.) had the only double-double of the game, scoring 14 points to go with a game-best 13 boards.

Southern Vermont started in a 2-0 hole before the tip as an administrative bench technical was assessed, and French converted both of the free throws to give his team an early lead. Not allowing that to get them down, the Mountaineers came out and scored the first seven points of regulation time and extended the lead to 12-4 following consecutive baskets by Mack III. Following a pair of made free throws by SVC sophomore forward DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Conn.), EC scored nine unanswered to regain the lead at 15-14 after a layup from sophomore guard Derek Murphy (Columbia, Md.).

The two sides then battled back-and-forth as the game saw 12 lead changes and six ties through the final 12 minutes of play in the first half. With the score knotted at 25-25, Mountaineer junior guard Jermaine Campbell (Bridgeport, Conn.) knocked down a big trey, but Elms came right back and answered with a downtown jumper of its own by junior guard Tyler Scott (Salem, Ore.).

A Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) jumper gave Southern Vermont the lead back at 30-29, but the Blazers again had a response as Odunlami made his way through the key for a layup. The EC advantage did not last long with Taylor spotting up and hitting a three to regain the lead, a 33-31 advantage with 5:02 to go in the first. After swapping buckets, Lockett went to the line and hit the back end of his two shots for the Blazers to go ahead 40-39, and he then did the same just over a minute later after both teams went cold for Elms to take a 41-39 edge into the locker room.

Lockett had a half-best 10 points in the opening period while Odunlami grabbed eight of his boards. Mack III led the Mountaineers with nine points, and freshman forward Blair Manners (Auckland, New Zealand) had a team-high eight rebounds. Evenly matched through the first 20 minutes of play, each team had 22 boards, and SVC held a slight advantage from the field by shooting 45.2 percent (14-31) to Elms' 40.0 percent (14-35).

Mack III came out of the break with a hot hand as he drilled a three-ball to make it a 47-47 game with 16:59 to go. About 30 seconds later, he knocked down his third from the perimeter in the half to give SVC a 50-49 lead. Following a layup by junior Izzy Melton (Silver Spring, Md.), Mack III hit yet another three-pointer as the Mountaineers found themselves ahead 55-49. The lead increased to eight shortly after when Southern Vermont sophomore captain Antoine White (Germantown, Md.) grabbed a defensive rebound and made the long pass to a fast-breaking Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Md.) who threw it down to bring the Mountaineer faithful to its feet.

Elms refused to go away, however, and rallied for a 9-1 run led by seven points by French including a three-pointer to tie things once again, this time at 60-60 with 8:37 to go. Southern Vermont would take a brief lead with a pair of layups by Manners, but the Blazers again fought back as they worked their way to the line and converted on the freebies. A Lockett layup then swung the advantage back to the Elms side, this time for good, at 66-65; the Blazers would never trail the rest of the way.

Going for a game-tying three with 2:15 to play, Olugbile missed but had Manners down low; he was able to get his hand on the rebound for the tip-in to keep it close at 68-67. Choosing not to run the clock, Lockett made his way quickly down the floor and laid it in to go back up by three (70-67). After the Mountaineers turned the ball over, Manners came up with a huge block, but Olugbile was called for the offensive foul on the other end, sending him to the bench with his fifth personal. Blazer freshman Conny Ihearahu (Largo, Md.) subsequently hit a jumper to put Elms up 72-67.

Following an SVC timeout, Melton knocked down a jumper from the top of the key to cut it to 72-69, and freshman Brandon Casella (Pittsfield, Mass.) then got up in the air to pick off the Elms pass. Casella was fouled and found himself at the line with a chance to close within one, but he would only hit the second to trim the lead to 72-70 with 14 ticks to go.

Forced to foul, Southern Vermont sent Murphy to the charity stripe with a chance to make it a two-possession game. He only hit the first, however, and the Mountaineers had an opportunity to use their last timeout and draw up a play. Coming out of the stoppage, the hosts got the ball to Mack III who put up the three. It wouldn't go home, and Elms grabbed the loose ball. Odunlami was then fouled and sent to the line with just under three seconds to play; he missed both, but Southern Vermont was unable to get off the desperation three as the Blazers took home the 73-70 final.

Manners finished with 12 points, nine boards and two blocks while Melton had another 12 points off the bench. White had a game-high eight assists to go along with six rebounds. The Mountaineers shot at a 41.7 percent clip (25-60) for the game including 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from three-point land.

Murphy ended the night with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Lockett added eight boards, three assists, a block and a steal to his line. Elms shot 38.3 percent (23-60) on the evening but was able to limit its turnovers to just 11 compared to SVC's 15. The Blazers turned those Mountaineer giveaways into 17 points while Southern Vermont scored just 10 off the EC mishaps.

Southern Vermont rests up before hosting Becker College Thursday for a 7 p.m. start while Elms welcomes Newbury College for a 7 p.m. tip on Tuesday.