MEN'S BASKETBALL UPSETS ANNA MARIA, 76-73, TO ADVANCE TO GNAC SEMIFINALS

PAXTON, Mass. - No. 6 Emmanuel College pulled off a 76-73 upset victory at No. 3 Anna Maria College in the quarterfinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball tournament on Tuesday night.  Sophomore forward Aidan Hadley (Owls Head, Maine) paced the Saints with a double-double, which included game-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The win marked the first time in the past six years that the EC Men's Basketball Team has taken home a conference tournament victory.  Prior to this evening's win, the Saints' last tourney triumph came in a 94-91 double-overtime victory at top-seeded Lasell College in the GNAC semifinal round back on February 26th, 2009.

Hadley's 20 points were a career-high for the sophomore, who came off the bench to spark the visiting Saints.  Emmanuel also got 18 points and a team-best eight assists from sophomore guard Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.).

The host AMCATS were led offensively by graduate student Quantez Franklin (South Yarmouth, Mass.) with 16 points. Juniors Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) andPatrick Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) both scored 13 points apiece, while classmate Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) added 10 points.  Bradanese also dished out a game-high nine assists, followed by senior Michael Gorman (Methuen, Mass.) who finished with six assists.

The AMCATS held Emmanuel's leading scorer and rebounder, Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.), to eight points and five rebounds, but the rest of the Saints' lineup picked up the work. In addition to outscoring the AMCATS, the Saints also held a 35-23 advantage in rebounds, including a 10-6 edge on the offensive end.

The Saints took control of the lead early in the first half and quickly built a double-digit lead. They took their largest lead of the day, 14 points, just over six minutes into the game. The AMCATS spent the next six minutes chipping away at their deficit, and with 8:04 left to play in the first half, they finally came within single digits at 28-19.

Emmanuel would briefly take a 10-point lead at 37-27 with 4:50 on the clock, but the Anna Maria hit three-straight layups by Franklin, McKissick and Delorey to come within four points at 37-33 at the 2:55 mark. After opening the gap back up to eight points a minute later, the AMCATS finished out the half with a 5-0 run to trail by three, 41-38, at half.

The second half continued in similar fashion, as the Saints never held a comfortable lead. The AMCATS came within three points six times over the course of the second half, but each time the AMCATS looked like they were about to take control, the Saints hit a big shot to take a two-possession lead.

With 43 seconds left on the clock, Bradanese hit a layup, stole the ball on the Saints' inbounds play, and was fouled on his shot attempt. He connected on both free-throws to tie the game at 73-73. 

The AMCATS almost picked up on a steal on Emmanuel's next inbounds as well, but the ball rolled loose in the center of the court and Delorey was called for a foul, sending Emmanuel's Josh Bushman (Hurst, Texas) to the line. Bushman, who finished with 13 points on the night, made his first, but missed his second, allowing the AMCATS one final possession with 29 seconds to play.  The Saints then forced an AMCAT turnover and a foul sent freshman guard Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) to the line.  The rookie calmly drained both of his tries from the stripe and gave his Saints the three-point win. 

Emmanuel finished the game shooting 54.5 percent from the floor (30-for-55) and 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from three-point range. The AMCATS shot at 49.2 percent from the floor (29-59), including a 50 percent effort (7-for-14) effort from three-point range. The Saints also held a 12-8 scoring advantage at the free-throw line.

The contest marks the second single-digit game between the Saints and the AMCATS this season, as Anna Maria escaped with an 85-84 win two weeks ago.

The Saints improve to 10-15 overall with the win and will now travel to Providence, R.I. on Thursday night, February 26th, to take on the 2nd-seeded Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University in the GNAC Semifinals.   Anna Maria (14-12) will await word of a seeding in the 2015 ECAC Tournament.

* Recap and Photo Courtesy of Anna Maria College Sports Information