Newcomer Nelson Steals The Show For Raiders Win

Nashua, NH – Rivier freshman and Nashua, NH native Jake Nelson, who just transferred in to Rivier during the semester break, stole the ball off an inbound play with just 10 seconds remaining in a 61-61 tie game to give the Raiders their first GNAC victory of the season. Nelson drove for the lay-up and was fouled with just under 8 seconds to go and made both free throws to give the Raiders a 63-61 advantage and the eventual win.

The Raiders had an early 12-10 lead in the first half, but despite holding a 14-10 advantage in fouls during the half, the Raiders found themselves trailing 32-25 going into the locker room. After a 15-15 tie following a 3-pointer by Rivier's Joe Granato (Arlington, MA), Emerson took the lead right back with a 3-pointer by junior Carlos Negrete (Mission Viejo, CA). Two minutes later Rivier senior Nick Bean (E. Longmeadow, MA) hit two free throws to knot the game at 19, but another Negrete 3-pointer gave the Lions another lead that they wouldn't give up for the rest of the half. A jumper by Emerson's Alex Dempsey (Anchorage, AK) and two free throws by Bilali Kalilou-Mack (Windsor, CT) pushed the Lions lead to 7 to finish the half, 32-25.

The second half wasn't looking good for the Raiders as the Lions extended their lead to 42-31 after a Drew Ventner (Boston, MA) 3-pointer just 5 minutes into the half. The Lions defense continued to create tough shots for the Raiders, who shot just 28% from the floor in the second half, and the Lions were able to extend their lead to as many as 13 points with under 10 minutes to play. With just 5 minutes to go, a lay-up by Rivier's Don Poitras (Bow, NH) brought the score to 54-44 in favor of the Lions, then a 6-2 run for the Raiders, capped off by a Nick Bean 3-pointer found the Raiders trailing by just 6 with 3:24 remaining. Four made free throws by the Lions pushed the lead back to 10 points and set up a thrilling final two minutes of play. Another 3-pointer by Bean followed by a turnover by Lions center Kabir Moss led to a Bean shooting two at the free throw line after getting fouled by Tom Messinger (Florence, MA), his fifth of the game which sent him to the bench. Bean made one of two and the ball went back the other way only to see Emerson's Carlos Negrete turn the ball back over on a traveling violation. On the ensuing possession, Jake Nelson took an inside out pass and drained the 3-pointer to pull the Raiders to within 3 points at 57-60 with about 1 minute to play. Rivier's Will Snider (Brooklyn, NY) committed a quick foul that sent Drew Ventner to the free throw line, where he proceeded to miss both free throws, further helping the Raiders cause. Chris Foley (Oakham, MA) grabbed the rebound, passed off to Nelson and ran down the floor, only to be rewarded for his hustle when Nelson drove the baseline and dished back to Foley after his defender tried to help on the double team. Foley tossed in the lay-up to bring the Raiders to within one point at 59-60. The Raiders held off on the foul until the ball was in the hands of David Gainforth (Rothesay, Canada), who had just recently subbed in for Messinger just 30 seconds before and was seeing his first action of the game. Gainforth converted just one of his two free throws to give the Lions a 61-59 lead with 42 seconds left to play. Senior Nick Bean got open quickly and jacked up a 3-pointer on the other end, but left it just short, but a quick Will Snider got into the rebound lane and created a jump ball on the rebound, with which Rivier kept possession of the ball. An inbound play swung the ball from left to right until it found the hands of Cliff Celestin (Braintree, MA) who drove past his defender and made a lay-up to tie the game with 26 seconds to play. The Lions came down the floor with the intension of holding for the last shot, and after not being able to set up their offense they called their final timeout with 10 seconds remaining to set up the wild finish. The inbounds play went just into the back court for Kabir Moss, but as he got one hand on the ball while also trying to ward off his defender, Jake Nelson came in from the back door and knocked the ball loose. Nelson recovered and headed toward the basket for a lay-up, but Moss, who was playing with 4 fouls, went for the block and committed his fifth foul, sending Nelson to the free throw line with 7.6 seconds left. Nelson drained both shots to give the Raiders their first lead of the half at 63-61. Emerson came down the floor for one last attempt, but good defense forced an off balance 3-point attempt by Gainforth, which bounced off the front rim and into the hands of Snider to secure the victory for the Raiders.

Nick Bean led all scorers with 16 points as he went 4-12 from the three point line and fellow senior Don Poitras, despite being ejected after his second technical foul in the second half, ended the game with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) led the raiders with 4 assists and both Joe Granato and Chris Foley chipped in with 8 points each.

Carlos Negrete had a team high 12 points for the Lions and Kabir Moss added 11 in the set back. Drew Ventner came down with a team high 7 rebounds and Tom Messinger and Bilali Kalilou-Mack each added 9 points for Emerson.

The win improves the Raiders overall record to 6-3 and GNAC conference record to 1-1 while the Lions fall to 4-5 overall and 1-2 in GNAC play. The Raiders will travel to Mount Ida College on Tuesday, January 11th for their next GNAC game at 6:00 PM while the Lions will host Albertus Magnus College in a GNAC game of their own at 4:00 PM on the same day.