SENIOR TRIO LEADS EMMANUEL PAST NORWICH ON SENIOR DAY, 67-59

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior tri-captains Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.), Michael Mailhot (Norwich, Conn.) and Connor Morgan (Glocester, R.I.) combined to score 49 points to lead the Emmanuel College men's basketball team past Norwich University, 67-59, Saturday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center. With the victory, the Saints close out their regular season with a 6-19 overall record with a 6-12 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action while the Cadets campaign comes to an end with a 6-19 record (3-15 GNAC).

In the opening stanza, both squads held leads early before a layup from Emmanuel junior guard Brandon Jones (Windsor, Conn.) gave EC an 11-10 cushion and put the hosts ahead for good with just under 14 minutes remaining in the half.

Emmanuel would continue to build its lead, pushing the margin to double-digits late in the first half following three consecutive free throws from Mailhot to make it 34-23 with 4:41 remaining. Over the first 20 minutes of action, the Saints shot 43.3 percent from the field and held a convincing 23-13 rebounding margin heading into the break with a 38-26 cushion. Sophomore Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) led all scorers at the half with 12 points.

Over the first three minutes of the second half, Emmanuel would go on an 10-2 run to take its largest lead of the game following a Mailhot jumper with 17:08 to play to give the Saints a 48-28 lead.

The Cadets continued to hang around and with an intense full-court press on, chipped away at the hosts lead to get back into the ball game. A jumper by senior guard Josh Cabrera (Providence, R.I.) with 10:22 remaining made it a 10 points game at 52-42. A few minutes later, Tullar would convert a pair of free throws to make it a two possession game at 55-50 with 6:39 to play but it would be the closest Norwich would get as the Saints responded with an immediate 7-0 spurt capped by a fast-break layup from Everson to bump their lead back to 62-50.

Despite a late flurry, Emmanuel was able to hold on for the 67-59 lead and will advance to next week's GNAC tournament as the No. 8 seed to face the No. 1 seed on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 PM.

Morgan finished with a team-high 20 points of 7-14 shooting from the field while Mailhot chipped in with 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Everson was just behind him with 14 points and a game-high six assists.

Tullar paced the Cadets with a game-high 24 points on 10-16 shooting while Cabrera capped his Norwich career with 13 points and four helpers.

Watch the Pre-Game senior day ceremony: