Crisafulli; Men's Hoops Sinks JWU in 76-74 Thriller

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel College, 76 – Johnson & Wales University, 74

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (11-4, 7-2 GNAC)
Johnson & Wales University (6-7, 4-3 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – JYC Gymnasium/Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Saturday, January 22, 2022

THE LEAD – Zachary Crisafulli's (East Hampton, Mass.) three with 33 seconds to play helped complete a nine-point comeback over the final four minutes to lift the Emmanuel College men's basketball team past Johnson & Wales University, 76-74, Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at the Jean Yawkey Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In a tight first half that saw both sides hold leads by as many as five points, the squads played to a 36-36 score at the break with EC shooting 48.3% from the floor as a team compared to 43.8% by the Wildcats.
• JWU junior guard Aireus Raspberry (Cranston, R.I.) led all players at the break with 20 points, going 8-for-11 from the field with four three pointers.
• EC opened the second half with a 6-0 spurt on triples by Crisafulli and junior guard Ricky Martin (Sicklerville, N.J.) to build their largest lead of the game at 42-36 before the Wildcats battled to regain the lead for the first time in the second half at the 8:54 marker on a triple by Bobby Fiorito (East Providence, R.I) to give the visitors a 55-54 edge.
• Over the next four minutes, JWU outscored the Saints 17-9 to build a 72-63 lead following a layup by Bryan Davis (Miramar, Fla.) with 4:57 left in regulation causing the Saints to burn a timeout and regroup.
• Emmanuel responded with a 12-2 run with Crisafulli nailing the go-ahead three with 33 seconds left on the clock with a drive and dish assist by sophomore guard Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.) to make it a 75-74 game.
• Johnson & Wales had a chance to pull ahead but Aireus missed a highly contested shot which Ciccio cleaned up the rebound before being fouled. He made one of two free throws to move the score to 76-74 with two seconds to play and a desperation heave at the buzzer hit off the right side of the backboard as the Saints held on for the two-point GNAC victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Crisafulli finished the game with 13 points on a 5-for-8 shooting performance going 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
• Aireus led all scorers with 30 points while Davis posted a double-double of 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) paced Emmanuel with a team-best 17 points, adding four steals while Ciccio finished with 13 points and a game-high eight assists.
• Sophomore Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.) added 10 points off the bench for the Saints.

UP NEXT

• EC is off until Wednesday, January 26 when they return to the court for a road contest at Rivier University scheduled for an 8:00 PM tip. The Saints bested the Raiders earlier this month by an 83-68 score on Jan. 12^th.
• JWU also returns to action on January 26, hosting #8 University of Saint Joseph (CT) at 7:30 PM.