ROBINSON LIFTS MEN’S BASKETBALL OVER MOUNT IDA, 74-73

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior forward Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) sank a free-throw with one tenth of a second (0:00.1) left on the game clock to propel the Emmanuel College men's basketball team past Mount Ida College, 74-73, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center. The win was the Saints first of the year as they improve to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC while the loss drops the Mustangs to 3-3 overall, 0-1 in the GNAC.

Emmanuel was in control of the action for the majority of the afternoon, never trailing and holding a lead the entire contest until Mount Ida was able to tie the score at 73-73 with 15 seconds remaining in regulation following a pair of free-throws by sophomore guard Aaron Kelly (Norwalk, Conn.).

With a chance to win the game, the Saints ran an isolation play designed to set up senior guard Mike Mailhot (Norwich, Conn.) for a look from outside but his attempt came up short. Robinson was there for the rebound and was able to collect himself for a put-back, drawing a foul on the attempt before the second half horn sounded.

Robinson front-rimmed his first attempt from the charity stripe before knocking down his second to seal the win for EC. He would finish the afternoon with team-highs in points (25) and rebounds (11) for his first double-double of the 2012-13 campaign.

The Saints came out of the gates strong, starting the action off with an 8-0 run capped by a jumper by Mailhot just 1:57 into the contest. With 1:33 left to play in the opening stanza, EC led by 35-24 but the Mustangs closed the half strong with a 6-0 spurt fueled by four points from freshman forward Cam Walker (New Bedford, Mass.) to make it a 35-30 game heading into the half.

Like the first half, Emmanuel started the second frame with a quick 7-0 spurt capped by a highlight reel dunk from senior forward Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) with 18:13 left in the half to make it a 42-30 contest, giving the hosts their largest lead of the afternoon.

The Mustangs would keep the game within reach and trailing by nine with less than nine minutes to play, Kelly would hit back-to-back three's to make it a one possession game at 58-55 with 7:36 to go.

A  Mailhot layup with 2:20 left made it a three possession game at 71-63 but Mount Ida continued to battle as Walker hit five of six free throws over three trips to the line including an old-fashion three-point play to make it a 71-69 with 54 tics left.

The Mustangs were able to force an EC turnover and had a chance to tie or take the lead but Kelly's three point attempt was too strong and Emmanuel senior forward Connor Morgan (Chepachet, R.I.) was fouled while grabbing the rebound with 22 seconds on left on the clock.

In the bonus, Morgan would hit the first shot to make it 72-69 before the Mustangs called their final timeout of the contest. During the timeout, an Emmanuel player checked into the game but no one came off the court so a technical foul was issued to the team for having six men on the floor. With the point of interruption rule taking precedent, Kelly stepped up to the line nailing the two freebees to make it 72-71 in favor of Emmanuel. Following the technical free throws, Morgan also knocked down the backend of his one-and-one to make it 73-71 with 22 second left setting up the late game heroics.

Kelly finished the day with a game-high 30 points on 8-18 shooting including six from behind the arc and a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.  Senior center Jeff McNair (Brockton, Mass.) notched a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Walker finished the day with 14 points.

For the Saints, Mailhot registered 16 points and game-high four assists while Morgan added 11 points.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday, December 4 when they host No. 6 Amherst College at 6:00 PM while the Mustangs are back in action the same night when they host Fitchburg State University at 7:00 PM in Newton, Mass.