Saints Hold On For 73-65 Victory vs. Anna Maria

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College men’s basketball team posted its ninth straight victory and 14th win over 15 games in a 73-65 final over Anna Maria College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) hoops action on Saturday afternoon.

Saints Hold On For 73-65 Victory vs. Anna Maria
Program Video Box Score

Team Stats

January 28, 2023

THE BASICS 
Emmanuel College, 73 vs. Anna Maria College, 65

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (15-4, 11-0 GNAC)
Anna Maria AMCats (4-15, 3-8 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Saturday, January 28, 2023

THE LEAD – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team posted its ninth straight victory and 14th win over 15 games in a 73-65 final over Anna Maria College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) hoops action on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After exchanging baskets to start to the game, the Saints took the lead for good on a runner by junior Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) at the 16:47 marker of the first to give EC a 5-4 advantage.
  • First year Zaire Baines (Queens, N.Y.) hit his third three in a row to give the Saints their largest lead of the half at 23-12 with 11:10 remaining.
  • Anna Maria battled back to make it a single-possession game on a fast break layup from Trevian Grenon (Sutton, Mass.) with 2:15 left in the half to cut the EC lead to 33-31 but the home side ended the half on a 6-2 flurry to account for a 39-33 halftime score.
  • Baines led all scorers at the break with 11 as the Saints posted a 50.0% clip from long range in the stanza (8-for-16) compared to a goose egg for the AMCats who were 0-for-7 from downtown in the half.
  • The Saints took their largest lead of the afternoon at 16 points on a put back layup from junior Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.) with 10:02 to play to give EC a 61-45 cushion before Anna Maria regrouped once again to get back in the hunt.
  • The AMCats strung together 14 straight to pull within a hoop at 61-49 following a jumper by Kennedy Minix-Rogers (Smyrna, Ga.) with 6:27 left. The visitors had five opportunities over the next two minutes to even the score but Emmanuel forced them into three turnovers with a pair of stops to retain the two-point cushion heading into crunch time.
  • Over the final 4:22 on the clock, the Saints slowed down the pace of play and outscored Anna Maria 12-4 to hold on for the 73-65 GNAC victory and their ninth straight.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Pope ended the action with a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Grijalva chipped in with 15 points.
  • Senior Ricky Martin (Sicklerville, N.J.) finished with 12 points, going 4-4 from the free throw stripe. 
  • Minix-Rogers paced AMC with a team-high 13 points.
  • The AMCats owned a 42-34 rebounding edge in the loss.
  • Emmanuel's extends its winning streak to nine games marking the second-longest streak in program history.

UP NEXT

  • Emmanuel looks to make it 10 in a row on Tuesday, January 31 playing host to Norwich University at 5:00 PM on the Andy Yosinoff Court.
  • Anna Maria is idle until Thursday, February 2 when they head to Weston, Mass. for a 7:00 PM GNAC contest vs. Regis College.