Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short vs. Albertus Magnus in GNAC Semis, 75-71

THE BASICS 
Score:
Albertus Magnus College, 75 vs. Emmanuel College, 71

Records: 
#1N - Emmanuel Saints (18-9)
#2S - Albertus Magnus Falcons (18-9)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Friday, February 24, 2023

THE LEAD – Graduate forward Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y.) scored a game-high 27 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds to lift Albertus Magnus College past host Emmanuel College, 75-71, Friday evening in the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament semifinals in Boston, Mass. The Falcons advance to Sunday's GNAC Championship against University of Saint Joseph (CT) in the fourth straight GNAC final featuring both programs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints raced out to a quick 5-1 lead over the opening two minutes, but the Falcons answered with a 7-0 spurt to pull ahead 8-5 on a transition hoop from junior guard Kevin Crawford at the 15:08 marker.
• Albertus Magnus stayed in control through much of the half and took its largest lead with 3:47 to play on a fast break layup from Dawkins to move the needle to 28-20, Falcons.
• Emmanuel closed the first half on with a 7-2 flurry including the Saints only triple of the stanza by junior Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) to pull within one possession at halftime, trailing 30-27.
• Both teams struggled from downtown in the opening stanza as the Saints went just 1-for-10 from behind the arc while holding the Falcons to an uglier 0-for-11 from long range.
• EC opened the second on fire as Pope and junior guard Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.) went to action from downtown to trigger a 15-7 stretch that flipped the cushion in favor of the Saints, 42-37, following a layup from senior forward Ted Weber (Orange, Conn.) with less than 16 minutes to play.
• Over the next three minutes, the feel of the game changed as the Falcons forced the Saints into several costly turnovers that fueled a 13-3 rally to once again trade the lead in favor of the visitors to 50-45 after first year guard Tashon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.) on a steal on layup with 12:02 remaining.
• One of two free throws from Pope with 7:46 on the clock made it a single-possession score at 56-54 but the Saints were unable to get any closer over the closing minutes of the contest.
• Albertus stretched the lead to as many 10 as Crawford hit a free throw with 1:20 to play to all but seal the win, making it a double-double advantage in favor of AMC, 69-59.
• Emmanuel never gave up as junior Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.) scored eight quick points as part of EC's 10-4 rush that included a rare four-point play with 20 seconds left to pull the Saints to within four at 73-69.
• Dawkins hit one of two free throws with 15 seconds to play before Weber made it a one-possession game with a put-back layup with 5.1 tics left to make it 74-71.
• Emmanuel immediately fouled on the inbound and had some life after Crawford missed the first free throw in the double-bonus but the junior collected himself to sink the pivotal second shot to move the lead to 75-71, which proved to be the final from the Andy Yosinoff Court.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dawkins finished the night with game-highs in points (27), rebounds (12) and steals (4), shooting 9-for-21 from the field and 9-of-12 at the line.
• Grijalva led the Saints with 21 points coming off the bench while Pope, Ciccio and Weber all finished in double-figured with 17, 14, and 13 in the defeat. Pope added 10 boards for his eighth double-double of the year.
• The Falcons defense was a problem for the young Saints, turning the hosts over 22 times while only committing seven of their own, their second-lowest total all year. AMC scored 22 points off the Emmanuel turnovers, winning the points-off-turnovers differential 22-5 in the road win.
• Emmanuel contained the explosive Albertus offense to the 74 points, 10 below their season-average and 54 points less than their Quarterfinal performance, holding them to a season-low of one three-point field goal and 1-for-19 performance from long range.
• The Saints outrebounded the Falcons in the GNAC playoff battle, 45-43.
• EC falls to 0-3 all-time vs. the Falcons in GNAC playoff action and 0-2 all-time at home in the GNAC Semifinals.

UP NEXT

• The Falcons advance to the GNAC Championship to face the top seed from the GNAC South and No. 1 team in the nation, the USJ Blue Jays. The title game will be played on the West Hartford, Conn. campus on Sunday, February 26 at 1:00 PM.
• The Saints 2022-23 campaign ends with an overall mark of 18-9. EC tied the single-season wins mark in GNAC play with a 13-4 conference record and the 18 total wins marks the fourth straight season with 15+ victories.