SAINTS COME UP SHORT IN HOME OPENER, FALL 84-73 TO ALBERTUS

BOSTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus men's basketball team (5-0, 3-0 GNAC) scored 55 points in the second half to close out a 84-73 road victory against Emmanuel (1-4, 1-1 GNAC) on Thursday night at the Emmanuel College Gymnasium.

Freshman Shontaey Lovell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 25 points and pulled down 15 rebound to lead all players in both categories. Senior Marc Wilson (Jersey City, N.J.) also scored 20 points for the visitors, with 16 of them coming in the second half.

The teams traded buckets in the opening six minutes of play and the game was tied 10-10 after a Will Jessup (Westwood, Mass.) jumper. The freshman sunk a layup a minute later to continue what would be a 8-0 EC run, giving the home team a 14-10 lead.

Both teams played evenly for the remainder of the half, until sophomore Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) hit a layup and sophomore Alex Minetti (Wakefield, R.I.) followed it with a buzzer-beater three to give the Saints a 34-29 lead heading into the break.

Emmanuel extended its lead to 41-33 on another Cordero layup and forced Albertus Magnus to use a full timeout. The timeout proved to be the game's key turning point as the Falcons rattled off a 19-1 run over the next 4:41, jumping out to a 52-42 lead.

The Saints continued to apply pressure and convert offensively and we able to cut the lead to five at two separate points of the closing minutes, but they were never able to get over that five-point hump.

Leading by six with 35 seconds left, Albertus went 5-of-6 from the free throw line to seal the deal.

Emmanuel was led offensively by Minetti, who scored 19 points in 30 minutes of play. Senior Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) posted his fourth double-double in as many games, tallying 13 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

The Falcons (46%, 29-63) shot slightly better than the Saints (40.9%, 27-66) and scored 25 points off turnovers. 

The hosts shot 68.2 percent (15-22) from the charity stripe, while Albertus shot 59.5 percent (22-37).

Next up for the Saints is a road battle at Suffolk on Saturday, December 5 at 1:00 PM. EC's next home game is Thursday evening, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. as part of a basketball doubleheader. That doubleheader will be themed as "Ugly Holiday Sweater Night" so bring out your best (or worst) sweaters for a chance to win an Emmanuel Ugly Sweater shirt, $50 to Yardhouse, and more!