MEN’S BASKETBALL POISED FOR GNAC PLAYOFF RUN

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team is set to travel to Lasell College for the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday, February 21 at 7:00 PM in the Lasell College Athletic Center. The Saints closed out the regular season with an 8-17 overall record, posting a 7-11 mark in the GNAC to earn the No. 6 seed in the conference. The Lasers finished the campaign at 17-8 and 14-4 in the GNAC to secure the No. 3 seed in the GNAC.

HISTORY
The Saints make their third straight and 13^th overall trip to the GNAC tournament while the Lasers head to the tournament for the eighth time since the program joined the conference in 2008. Emmanuel owns a 9-12 overall GNAC tournament record while the Lasers boast an 8-6 postseason mark including a GNAC Championship in 2008. The squads have faced off three times in the postseason with Lasell owning a 2-1 record with wins in 2008 (71-60) and 2012 (80-73). EC's lone playoff win against its Newton neighbors came in 2009 when the No. 4 Saints dethroned the No. 1 Lasers in the semifinals, 94-91. Overall, Lasell owns a 14-8 record over Emmanuel including a pair of wins earlier this season.

EMMANUEL SCOUTING REPORT
The Saints spread around the offensive love and have seen nine different players score in double-figures in games during the 2016-17 season. Freshman guard Emmett Riddick (Middletown, Conn.) has been the team's most consistent scorer averaging 12.3 ppg while sophomore shooting guard Joe Tamburro (South Windsor, Conn.) is a scoring threat from long range, averaging 11.5 ppg. Senior forward Aidan Hadley (Owls Head, Maine) has come on late in the year averaging 13.5 ppg the past month and has averaged a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game to rank fifth in the GNAC.

LASELL SCOUTING REPORT
The Lasers have looked to senior Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.) all season as a dominant scoring option as the guard currently leads the GNAC and ranks second among NCAA D-III ballers averaging 28.0 ppg. Omanovic unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury last week so the Lasers must now count on fellow senior John Powell (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.) to pick up the offensive production. Powell averaged 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while Blair was next on the team averaging 12.8 points per game while ranking fourth in the GNAC in made three point field goals with 63.

COVERAGE
Tuesday's GNAC Semifinal game will be streamed live on the web with LiveStat coverage as well. To tune into the live action, click on one of the links below:
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS

OF NOTE
Emmanuel is one of only two men's basketball programs in the GNAC to have never won a GNAC Championship, the other being Mount Ida College. The Saints have appeared in two GNAC Finals but lost the 2007 Championship to Rivier 59-57 and the 2009 title game to Saint Joseph's (ME) 74-72. The 2007 championship was later vacated from Rivier due to an ineligible player.

GNAC TOURNEY SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, February 21
Game 1: #8 Anna Maria at #1 Albertus Magnus - 7:00 PM
Game 2: #5 Saint Joseph's of Maine at #4 Mount Ida - 7:00 PM 
Game 3: #6 Emmanuel at #3 Lasell - 7:00 PM
Game 4: #7 Suffolk at #2 Johnson & Wales - 7:30 PM 

Semifinals - Thursday, February 23
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner