MEN'S BASKETBALL FIGHTS BACK BUT FALLS JUST SHORT OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS, 73-70
Feb. 3, 2011
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel Men's Basketball Team lost a close one to the Falcons of Albertus Magnus College, 73-70 on Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match-up played in the Jean Yawkey Center. Albertus Magnus improved to 10-9, 8-4 in the GNAC while the Saints fell to 5-15, 4-9 in the GNAC.
Senior guard Walden St. Juste (Hartford, Conn.) opened up the scoring for the Falcons with a mid-range jumper from the left wing. Shortly after, junior forward Ray Askew (New Haven, Conn.) threw down an alley-oop dunk off a backdoor cut from classmate Alex Muniz (Bridgeport, Conn.) to give the Falcons an early lead. Emmanuel's sophomore guard Michael Mailhot (Norwich, Conn.) drained a three at the fifteen minute-mark to tie the game at 9-all.
St. Juste nailed consecutive treys at the other end to give the visitors a 23-14 edge with eleven and a half minutes remaining in the half. An Emmanuel hoop by Brandon Jones (Winsor, Conn.) cut the Saints' deficit to 23-16 at the ten-minute mark. A bucket down low by Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) set the score at 25-22 and forced a timeout by the Falcons with eight minutes left.
Out of the timeout, Albertus went on an 8-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from Mike Massey (New Haven, Conn.) to bring the spread to 33-22 in favor of the Falcons. Albertus' David Armstrong (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Emmanuel's Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) exchanged dunks on each end, bringing the Yawkey Center crowd to its feet.
Jones drained consecutive three-balls for the Saints and Emmanuel trailed 42-36 at the two-minute mark. Junior Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) knocked down a bucket in the paint to cut the Falcon lead to 44-38 heading into the break at halftime.
St. Juste led the Falcons at the break with 10 points and 2 rebounds. Arshad Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) added 9 points in 7 minutes of action for Albertus. The Falcons led Emmanuel on the glass, 25-13. Jones led Emmanuel with a game-high 11 points, while Duke chipped in with 9 first half points for the Saints.
The second half featured the Saints battling back to a 46-45 lead, paced by the play of senior captain Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, Md.). The two teams exchanged free throws at both ends, before an and-one by Mailhot made the score, 48-47, Saints. After four lead changes to start the half, another three by St. Juste pushed the Falcons' lead back up to 55-50 with thirteen minutes left. St. Juste's fifth trey of the game extended the spread to eight points (58-50) with 11:15 on the clock.
The Saints recomposed again and brought the score to 62-59, Falcons, after a hoop by Duke. The two clubs played evenly through the five-minute mark until a trifecta by Darius Watson (New Britain, Conn.) put Albertus up, 71-65, and Emmanuel called for a full timeout with just under four minutes remaining. Both teams missed free throws down the stretch and the Falcons held on to a five point lead until D.J. Fazio (Methuen, Mass.) stole the ball in the backcourt and fed Robinson for a lay-up to cut the deficit to 71-68 with 34 seconds left.
Watson made one of two free throws at the other end (72-68), but Emmanuel missed on its next possession. Muniz knocked down one of two with 13 seconds to go, giving the Falcons a 73-68.
Askew was forced to leave the game after his fifth foul with 5:48 left in the contest. While the Saints were able to grab two late points, it would not be enough to top the visitors and the Falcons would earn a 73-70 win.
Duke and Jones led the Saints with 13 points each with Mailhot adding 11 for the hosts. The Saints combined for 29 rebounds on the night with Mailhot and Jones hitting two three's each.
The Falcons found a double-double from Askew (12 points and 10 rebounds) but it was St. Juste's 19 that led the team. Freshman Chris Cagle (New Haven, Conn.) added 10 rebounds for the visitors as Albertus Magnus combined for 51 rebounds and nine three-pointers on the night.
Emmanuel will return to action on Saturday, when the Saints travel to Suffolk University for a 2:00pm start with the Rams in a cross-town rivalry.