Pope’s 30 Points Leads Saints Past Chargers, 94-75, on Senior Day

BOSTON – Saints Men's Basketball (11-12, 7-5 GNAC) earned a crucial Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory with a 94-75 win over Colby-Sawyer (9-15, 5-7 GNAC) Saturday afternoon on Andy Yosinoff Court. Emmanuel scored a season-high 58 points in the second half en route to their seventh GNAC victory of the campaign.

Prior to the matchup, Emmanuel honored three graduating seniors, Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.), Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.), and Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.), for their contributions to the men's basketball program.

With the visitors trailing 6-5 early in the first half, Colby-Sawyer took the lead through a pair of Chaz Cullum (Omaha, Neb.) free throws and embarked on an 11-3 run for an early advantage. The Chargers held on to a steady lead throughout the half and with four minutes remaining, Bryson Jenkins (Gary, Ind.) drilled a three pointer to open a 39-27 lead, their largest of the half.

Emmanuel looked to close the gap prior to the break and was able to do so by outscoring Colby-Sawyer 9-2 over the final three minutes. The run was capped off by a Tim Greene (Bronx, N.Y.) jump-shot with four seconds on the clock and the Saints trailing 41-36 as the buzzer sounded for halftime.

The Saints continued to work towards erasing the deficit and just over four minutes into the second half, Donte Pope found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc to give the Saints a 47-45 lead. The lead was Emmanuel's first advantage since 15:57 remained in the first half. The Saints never trailed for the remainder of the game.

With just under six minutes to play, Emmanuel put the game to bed through a 13-0 run. The run began with the score 71-68 and was capped off with three Ryan Grijalva free throws to extend the lead to 84-68. The Saints went on to close out the victory 94-75 and earn a crucial GNAC win on Senior Day.

Emmanuel was led by a game-high 30 points from Donte Pope. Zaire Baines (Queens, N.Y.) filled up the stat-sheet posting 19 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds in the win. Chaz Cullum led the way for the Chargers with 27 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.

Up next, Colby-Sawyer will return home for a GNAC matchup with Regis College on Tuesday (2/13) at 7:30 P.M. The Saints will face a visit from New England College on Tuesday 2/13 at 7:30 P.M. in their final home regular season game of the season.