Saints sweep home-and-home series with Rivier

Story Courtesy of Emmanuel College Sports Information

Boston, Mass. – With three players in double-figures, the Emmanuel College men's basketball team downed Rivier College, 65-51, Monday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. With the victory, Emmanuel improves to 9-11 overall and 8-5 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference while the Raiders fall to 4-14 and 2-9 in GNAC action.

Both squads got off to slow starts in the opening stanza before the Saints picked things up to take control of the action. A jumper by senior forward Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) tied the score at 5-5 with 12:47 remaining and a few possessions later, Rivier freshman guard Mike Colby (Londonderry, N.H.) converted a layup to knot the score at 7-7 but it would be the last tie of the half as Emmanuel owned the advantage in the final nine minutes of action.

Following the 7-7 deadlock, the Saints would rattled off a 13-0 run capped by an old-fashion three point play by junior forward Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) to make it 20-7 in favor of the hosts with 5:31 left to play.

A layup by Rivier junior forward Mike Polley (Nashua, N.H.) pulled the Raiders to within seven points (23-16) with just over three minutes remaining in the opening stanza before Emmanuel went on a 12-2 spurt to close the half. With 23 seconds left on the clock, sophomore guard Brandon Jones (Windsor, Conn.) drained a shot from behind the arc to make it 32-18 and the Saints were then able to get a big defensive stop to regain possession with just over five tics left on the clock. Everson, who collected the Raider miss on the boards, dribbled the ball just over halfcourt before he fired up a shot as time expired to find nothing but net and propel the Saints into the halftime intermission with a 35-18 cushion.

After back-to-back buckets by Rivier to open the second half, Emmanuel would control the remainder of the action as the Raiders were never able to get closer than 13 points.

A three point shot off an inbounds play by junior swingman Connor Morgan (Chepachet, R.I.) gave the Saints a 53-31 cushion with just under 10 minutes left in the action for their largest lead of the contest. Following the trey, the Raiders would respond with a 6-0 run capped by a free throw by sophomore guard Nick Walch (Dedham, Mass.) to make it 53-38 with 5:59 left but Emmanuel would never let the visitors get back into the contest and held on for the 65-51 win, their second against the Raiders in 48 hours.

Both Duke and Everson finished the evening with a game-high 18 points while sophomore forward Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) recorded his team-leading 13th double-double of the season with 11 points and 19 rebounds. With his 19 boards, Robinson tied his own single-game rebounding record. Jones finished the game with six points and a career-best five helpers.

For the Raiders, sophomore guard Jake Nelson (Nashua, N.H.) led the way with 16 points while sophomore forward Tom Poitras (Bow, N.H.) added 12 pointed. Walch also was in double-figures for Rivier, chipping in with 10 points off the bench.

The Saints are idle until Saturday, February 4 when they head to New Haven, Conn. to take on Albertus Magnus at 3:00 PM while the Raiders host Lasell College on Thursday, February 2 in a 7:00 PM tilt.