DAVIS POWERS MEN’S BASKETBALL PAST RIVIER, 60-49

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior center Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) posted a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds to power the Emmanuel College men's basketball team past Rivier University, 60-49, Thursday evening in the Jean Yawkey Center. The Saints improve to 5-11 overall and 3-7 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play while the loss drops the Raiders 3-14 and 2-8 (GNAC).

Emmanuel opened the action with an 8-0 start capped by an old-fashion three point play by Davis at the 17:00 minute mark. Strong defense by the Saints kept the Raiders off the board until 15:58 remaining in the opening stanza when freshman guard Andre Ruff (Lowell, Mass.) buried a three to cut the lead to 8-3.

With 7:19 to play in the half, Davis converted another old-fashion three point play to bump the EC cushion to 20-10. Rivier responded with a quick 5-0 spurt capped by a three-point play from sophomore forward Kevin Francis (Cromwell, Conn.) to make it a five-point margin at 20-15 with 6:42 remaining.

Freshman guard Alex Minetti (Wakefield, R.I.) continued the trend of and-one buckets and his three-point play with 3:49 on the clock matched the Saints largest lead of the half at 10, extending the hosts lead to 27-17.

Rivier went on to score the next four points before a Davis layup at the buzzer made it a 29-21 game heading into halftime. Davis led all scorers at the break with 14 points.

Emmanuel opened the second half with four quick points forcing the Raiders to burn a timeout after a Davis layup made it 33-21 with 18:38 remaining. Out of the timeout, the Saints forced a Rivier turnover which led to a triple from sophomore guard Julian Diggs (Upper Marlboro, Md.) to extend the lead to 36-21.

Two Ruff free throws gave Rivier their first points of the second stanza but Davis answered with two consecutive layup in traffic to give the hosts a comfortable 40-23 advantage.

A pair of Raider triples from junior Edward Soucie (South Ryegate, Vt.) and senior Jake Nelson (Nashua, N.H.) cut the Saints lead to 40-29 but Emmanuel got one back with an acrobatic shot by sophomore forward Aidan Hadley (Owls Head, Maine) to increase its lead to 42-29 with 11:25 left to play.

A three by EC freshman guard Josh Bushman (Hurst, Texas) with 7:30 remaining increased the Emmanuel lead to 15 at 50-35 but two layups by the Raiders pulled them to within 11 at 50-39 with 6:30 on the clock.

Rivier was able to pull within 10 at 52-42 but Emmanuel was able to hold on down the stretch for the 60-49 GNAC victory.

Davis finished with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds while Diggs finished with 13 points.

Sophomore forward Matthew Manning (Peabody, Mass.) was the only Raider in double-figures with 12 points.

Both teams return to GNAC action this Saturday, January 31.  The Saints will travel to Lasell College for a 3:00 PM tip with the Lasers.  Rivier hits the road for a 1:00 PM contest against Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I.