Men's Hoops Clinches Playoff Home Game With 86-61 Win Over Dean

FRANKLIN, Mass. –  Emmanuel College picked up an 86-61 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win over Dean College in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon in Pieri Gymnasium.

EC sophomore Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) led all player with 20 points on 9-11 shooting. He also had a team best nine rebounds for the Saints. Graduate student Zachary Crisafulli (Easthampton, Mass.) was 8-12 for 18 points, while sophomore Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.) added 14 points.

Senior Winston Bryan (Greensboro, S.C.), paced the Bulldogs' attack with 15 points. Senior Nick Sampeck was second on the team with 13 points, while fellow senior Traijan Powell (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) finished with seven points and six rebounds. Sophomore Marquist Muse (Franklin, N.J.) grabbed nine rebounds off the bench.

The first half featured 13 lead changes as each side traded buckets. Emmanuel led 28-27 with 4:37 on the clock before ending the first half on a 14-5 run, capped by a Ciccio trey in the final seconds. The Saints shot 50% from the floor to lead 42-32 at the break. Bryan led Dean with 12 points in the intermission.

The visitors built a 22-point lead by starting the second half on a 17-5 run and never looked back. Emmanuel shot 53.1% in the second half and held the Bulldogs to 32.5%.

Emmanuel scored 46 points in the paint for the game and shot 51.5% as a team. Dean shot 35.1%.

EC improves to 14-10 overall and 10-7 in the conference standings while Dean goes to 8-16 overall and 3-14 in the GNAC, which is good enough for the final postseason spot. . The Saints earn the fifth seed in next week's GNAC postseason tournament, which means the teams will meet on Tuesday at 7:00 PM on the Andy Yosinoff Court in Boston for the GNAC tournament first round match-up.

*Portions of the release courtesy of Dean College Athletic Communications