CHICOPEE, Mass. – January 6, 2024 – The Dean College men's basketball team erased a 17-point first-half deficit, but Elms went on a late run to regain control and escape with a 71-62 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) home victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (5-8, 1-2 GNAC) will play their first home game of 2024 on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. GNAC contest against New England College. Elms (3-12, 1-2 GNAC) travels to Colby-Sawyer on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tip.

Senior Jayden Madise (Palmdale, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with 13 points and eight rebounds. Seniors AJ Weston (Kansas City, Mo) and Charles Walker (Princeton, N.C.) added 12 points apiece.

The Blazers shot 54.8% (17-31) in the first half and had a 15-11 advantage in rebounding to build a 42-27 lead after 20 minutes. Jake Midura made all four of his three-point attempts for Elms to lead all players with 12 points in the first. Sophomore Moussa Berete (Richmond, Va.) had seven points for Dean after making a pair of long balls and a free throw.

Dean quickly got back into the game after beginning the second half on a 10-0 run. The Bulldogs later came within one possession at 46-43 on a Weston layup with 12:05 left to play. Dean eventually erased the 17-point first-half deficit with a Walker lay-in to take their first lead of the game at 51-50. A pair of Madise free throws tied the game at 60-60 with less than four minutes to play.

Elms then went on an 8-0 run for a 68-60 advantage with less than a minute left. The Blazers made a few free throws down the stretch to escape with the 71-62 win.