Hot Start and Strong Finish Carry Men's Hoops by Monks, 96-91

THE BASICS 

Score:             
Emmanuel College, 96; Saint Joseph's College (ME), 91
Records:         
Emmanuel College Saints (9-2, 0-0 GNAC)
Saint Joseph's College Monks (3-7, 0-0 GNAC)
Location:         
Weston, Mass. – Higgins Court @ Regis College
Date:               
Thursday, January 2, 2020

THE LEAD:  The Emmanuel College men's basketball team used a 13-2 run over the final 1:40 of regulation to pull out a gutsy 96-91 win over Saint Joseph's College (ME) in non-conference play Thursday evening at the 2020 Catholic Colleges Classic hosted by Regis College.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• Emmanuel opened the game with a 13-0 run and led by as many as 19 during the opening stanza (36-17) before the Monks chipped away, cutting the EC lead to 45-35 at halftime.
• Saint Joseph's came out of the intermission on fire and took its first lead of the game with 12:44 to play following a three by Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) to put SJC on top, 61-59,
• Over the next nine minutes of action, the game features 10 lead changes and six ties as both teams battled for the upper hand.
• With just over three minutes to play in regulation, the Monks put together a 7-0 flurry behind four points from Nicholas and a triple by Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) to give SJC its largest lead of the night at 89-83 with 1:48 to play.
• EC junior Zachary Crisafulli (Easthampton, Mass.) got things started with an old-fashion three point play at the 1:40 marker made it a one possession game at 89-86.
• Tatsuaki Sakai (Ishikawa, Japan) answered for Saint Joseph's with a jumper to bump the lead back to a two-possession game at 91-86 before the Saints closed out the game with 10 unanswered points.
• Sophomore guard Giovanni Ciampa (Tewksbury, Mass.) connected on a three the wing to pull EC back to within two at 91-89 with 1:02 to play.
• On the ensuing defensive possession, EC forced the Monks to turn the ball over with 37 seconds left in the half. The turnover proved costly as Emmanuel came down and with 27 seconds to play, Crisafulli gave Emmanuel the lead for good with a three in the corner to pull the Saints ahead, 92-91.
• The Monks used a timeout with 18 seconds left to draw up a play for the win and out of the break, Emmanuel forced SJC into another turnover with four seconds left on the clock to thwart any heroics.
• EC connected on all four free throw attempts in the waning seconds of play to come away with the 96-91 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• EC junior forward Marcus Fox (Danbury, Conn.) played well on both ends, posting his sixth double-double of the year with a team-high 25 points and game-high 11 rebounds.
• Crisafulli ended the action with 23 points going 9-for-13 from the field including 2-of-3 from downtown.
• Curtis ended the contest with a game-best 26 points while senior guard Jack Casale (Portland, Maine) added 22 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
• EC senior Emmett Riddick (Middletown, Conn.) and junior Jack Moulder (Newtown, Conn.) were also in double-figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
• Both teams shot well from the field as the Monks connected on 52.3% (34-65) and the Saints 58.3% (35-60).
• EC held a 33-20 rebounding advantage in the win.
• The 9-2 start for the Saints is the best in program history through 11 games.

UP NEXT

• Both squads return to action tomorrow as part of the Catholic Colleges Classic. Emmanuel takes on host Regis at 3:00 PM while the Monks face off against Rivier University at 1:00 PM in Weston, Mass.