COURTESY PHOTO
The Panthers hosted the Elms College Blazers this past Monday. The Panthers (10-9) were looking for a home win what looked like an easy game on paper as the Blazers were just 3-16 entering this non-conference conference matchup. The big story for the game was that senior Mike Osgood (Nashua NH) was just two baskets away from 1,000 points, for his total collegiate career, going into the game.
The game started out rough for the Panthers as they were held scoreless for the first two minutes of the game. Osgood scored his first points, in the 7th minute of the game helping the Panthers reach a 12-9 lead. From there the game turned into a battle of attrition, as neither side was willing to allow the other to gain a large lead as there were five lead changes along with a lead no larger than four points, as the score was 19-16 with Plymouth trailing in the 11th minute. The Blazers decided to pick up the pace in the second part of the first half going on a 14 to 5 run, but that’s when Osgood converted a layup to push the score to 30-23 and re-igniting the Panthers. The basket also pushed Osgood past the millennium mark, totaling 1,001 points scored in college. The half ended 36 to 30 as Plymouth cut their nine-point deficit down to six.
The second half started as the first had ended as Elms continued with their lead pushing it back to a nine-point lead in the sixth minute of the half. In the eighth minute of the half, Plymouth began a 7-0 run which was started with a three from freshman Chris McCarthy (Chelmsford MA). The run ended after the Panthers got their first of the half 56-54. From there the game resumed the attrition like manner it had started with no clear winner in sight, until the 16th minute of the half junior Joe Simpson 9 (Manchester NH) hit a three to push the game to 69 to 66 and gave Plymouth enough to put the game in the rearview mirror as the last three minutes of the games saw the Panthers finish the game on a nine-to-six run as the game finished 78-76.
At the end of the game, Plymouth ended with a shooting average of 27-62 (43.5%), three-point average 8-23 (34.8%), and free throw average 16-19 (84.2%). The team also collected 41 rebounds (out-rebounding Elms by 13), 14 assists, 10 steals, and 6 blocks. The Panthers improve to 11-9 on the season as Elms Drops to 3-17. The Panthers next game is against Western Connecticut, here in Plymouth. The Saturday game starts at 3 p.m.