MEN’S HOOPS TOPS SUFFOLK IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE, 69-59

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team downed Suffolk University, 69-59, Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action in the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium. With the win, EC improves to 9-16 overall and 7-11 in GNAC play while the loss drops the Rams to 8-17 and 5-13 in the GNAC.

In the opening stanza, the Saints jumped out to an early 7-3 lead following a triple by junior forward John Clay (Westport, Mass.) but the Rams responded with a 10-4 run to take a 13-11 lead following a transition basket by sophomore center Matt Duquette (Swampscott, Mass.) with 10:16 to play.

Suffolk took its largest lead of the half after a deep three by junior guard Branden Barboza (Riverside, R.I.) made it 20-15 at the 8:54 marker. Over the next two minutes, Emmanuel answered with a 6-0 spurt capped by a layup by junior center Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) to regain the lead at 21-20.

With the score deadlocked at 25-25, EC put together another 6-0 run fueled by a pair of baskets from Clay to make it 31-25 with under three minutes to play in the half. Davis would put Emmanuel up by 8 at 35-27 with just under a minute remaining before Suffolk junior guard Curtis Casella (Saugus, Mass.) scored the final hoop of the half to account for the 35-29 Saints lead heading into the break.

Clay led all scorers at the break with 11 while Davis was just behind him in double-figures with 10 points.

A three by junior guard Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) ended a three minute scoreless drought for the Rams to open the second half, making it 37-32 but good defense by the Saints accounted for back-to-back scores in transition to bump the hosts lead to 41-32 with less than 15 minutes remaining in regulation.

A jumper by sophomore guard Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) with 13:58 on the clock gave Emmanuel its first double-digit lead of the afternoon at 43-32, forcing the Rams to burn a timeout. Out of the stoppage, Emmanuel was able to stop two offensive sets before Duquette finished a pair of free throws with 12:59 remaining to make it a 43-34 contest.

Following two scoreless minutes of play, EC freshman guard Josh Bushman (Hurst, Texas) made it 45-34 and following a Davis steal, Smith finished an old fashion three-point play to bump the lead to 48-34 with 10:39 remaining.

Casella kept the score in striking distance with a deep trey from the top of the key to make it 48-37 but a fast break layup by Emmanuel sophomore forward Matt Raine (Miami, Fla.) bumped the lead back to 13 at 50-37.

The Rams continued to battle and Barboza converted a baseline jumper to pull Suffolk to within single digits at 52-44 with 5:56 remaining in regulation. After one of two Emmanuel free throws, Casella buried another deep three to make it a two-possession game at 53-47 at the 5:08 mark. The Suffolk run continued on the next possession with a transition bucket by Duquette, making the score 53-49.

A Davis put back with 3:50 remaining pushed the Emmanuel lead to 55-49 and on the next possession, Smith finished a reverse layup to account for a 57-49 score.

With the shot clock running down and under three minutes to play, Smith drained a key jumper from the top of the key to keep the lead at eight points and the score at 59-51. The Saints forced a Suffolk turnover and the Rams immediately fouled to put Clay at the line for a pair. The junior sank both to give Emmanuel a 61-51 advantage with 2:22 to play.

The Saints defensive pressure was too much for the Rams to overcome as Emmanuel held on for the 69-59 conference win, securing the No. 6 seed in next week's Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament.

Clay finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds while Davis chipped in with a game-high16 points and nine boards. Smith also added 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting.

Junior forward Jake Meister (Madison, N.J.) led the Rams in scoring with 14 points while Casella and Duquette also posted double figures with 12 and 10, respectively.

Prior to the start of the game, the Emmanuel Athletic Department honored Men's Basketball senior Jordan DeMario (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) with a brief senior day ceremony.

Emmanuel returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 24 in the GNAC Quarterfinals, drawing No. 3 Anna Maria College. In their last meeting, the Saints dropped an 85-84 decision. The Rams will have to wait for other scores around the conference to determine their GNAC seed.