Men's Hoops Closes First Semester With 87-81 Win at Elms

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel College, 87 - Elms College, 81

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (7-2, 3-0 GNAC)
Elms College Blazers (0-10, 0-5 GNAC)

Location: Chicopee, Mass. – Picknelly Arena

Date: Monday, December 13, 2021

THE LEAD – Emmanuel College held off a late second-half surge to secure an 87-81 Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over Elms College on Monday evening at Picknelly Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Following a three-point play from sophomore Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.), Emmanuel took a 65-55 lead with 12:15 to play in regulation before the hosts went to work with a 9-0 flurry to pull within a point at the 9:36 marker.
• Elms took its first lead of the second half at 72-70 following a layup by Tahquell Cadle (Bridgeport, Conn.) with 6:16 on the clock but Emmanuel answered with five straight to regain a 75-72 cushion following a pair of free throws by sophomore Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.).
• The Blazers responded with a 7-0 run capped by a deep three by Roy McKeithen (Chicopee, Mass.) to give the hosts a two-possession advantage with 2:09 to play at 79-75.
• The Saints got two more at the line from Pope to make it a one-score game at 79-77 and after a foul and missed Blazer free-throw, Pope evened the game at 79-79 with a runner in the paint with 1:33 left in regulation.
• Emmanuel was able to get a stop on the next Elms offensive set and came down to score the go-ahead hoop on a layup from junior Ted Weber (Orange, Conn.) to give the Saints the lead for good at 81-79 with 0:41 left in the half.
• The Saints sealed the win at the line going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe over the final 21 seconds of play to hold on for the 87-81 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Pope, who was named the GNAC Co-Rookie of the Week earlier in the day led all scorers with 24 points while sharing the team-high lead in rebounding with seven.
• Weber played a big part in the win as well with a career-high 21 points outing, going 7-for-8 from the field and also recording seven boards.
• Junior Ricky Martin (Sicklerville, N.J.)  and Grijalva chipped in with 16 and 12 points in the win.
• Cadle paced the Blazers with a team-best 15 points while Mckeithen finished the game with 14, making 4-of-8 from three.
• Emmanuel turned the ball over a season-low eight times on the night and made a season-best 21 free throws in the victory.
• The 7-2 start matches the best start in program history through nine games, matching the 2019-20 campaign.

UP NEXT

• The Saints are idle now until December 31 when they take on Springfield College at the Naismith Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass at 3:00 PM.
• Elms is off until the new year when they travel to Norwich for a 1:00 PM tip off on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.