MEN’S BASKETBALL TO FACE ANNA MARIA IN GNAC TOURNEY

BOSTON, Mass. – After wrapping up the regular season with a 9-15 overall record including a 7-11 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action, the Emmanuel College men's basketball team is set to face Anna Maria College (14-11, 12-6 GNAC) in the Quarterfinal round of the 2015 GNAC tournament. With their 69-59 win over Suffolk University in the season finale, the Saints clinched the No. 6 seed and will travel to Paxton, Mass. on Tuesday, February 24 to meet the No. 3 AMCats at 7:00 PM in the Fuller Center.

The Saints return to the GNAC post-season after missing out on the action in 2014. In their last appearance in the conference tournament, Emmanuel traveled to Anna Maria as the No. 8 seed in the 2013 tournament field and nearly pulled off a shocker against the No. 1 seeded AMCats. EC lead 74-72 with less than four minutes to play before the AMC closed out the game on a 13-2 run during the final 3:38 of regulation to advance.

Anna Maria holds a 7-1 all-time record against the Saints since the two squads began competing in 2012 and has now won the last seven meetings. The Saints have never beaten the AMCats on the road but earlier this season came within a point of their first win in the Fuller Center. On February 12, EC lead 48-39 at the half before the hosts mounted a comeback to pull out the 85-84 nail biter. Four players scored in double-figures for Emmanuel in the loss including a double-double outing by junior center Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Anna Maria got a huge effort from the back court duo of Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) and Pat Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) who combined for 56 points, scoring 28 a piece in the win.

Davis leads the Saints on the year in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) while ranking sixth in the GNAC in scoring and fourth in rebounding.

Bradanese currently leaders Anna Maria averaging 14.6 points per game while Delorey is a close second with 13.5 ppg followed by senior guard Quantez Franklin's (South Yarmouth, Mass.) 12.5 ppg.

Emmanuel will look to notch its first GNAC playoff win since Feb. 26, 2009 when the Saints topped Lasell College 94-91 in double-overtime to earn a trip to the GNAC Championship game.