MEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON COMES TO AN END WITH GNAC SEMIFINAL LOSS TO JWU
Providence, R.I. – The No. 2 seed Johnson & Wales University men’s basketball team defeated No. 6 seed Emmanuel in the semifinals of the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship at the Wildcat Center on Thursday evening. The win advances JWU to the finals of the conference championship for the fifth time in school history.
Providence, R.I. – The No. 2 seed Johnson & Wales University men's basketball team defeated No. 6 seed Emmanuel in the semifinals of the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship at the Wildcat Center on Thursday evening. The win advances JWU to the finals of the conference championship for the fifth time in school history.
Johnson & Wales was led by junior Tom Garrick (Seekonk, Mass.) with 28 points, six rebounds and five steals while fellow junior Quarry Greenaway (Westchester, N.Y.) was also in double-figures with 12 points and six rebounds in the win for the Wildcats.
Emmanuel was led by junior John Clay (Westport, Mass.) who narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds while freshman John Bushman (Hurst, Texas) and junior Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) each had six points in the setback for the Saints.
Emmanuel took control of the action out of the gate and had the 13-8 lead after a pair of free throws by freshman Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) with 12:40 left in the first half. Johnson & Wales responded, however and used a 17-0 run, capped by a layup from freshman Michael Kiser (Pike Road, Ala.) with 6:38 remaining in the stanza. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 points several times down the stretch before taking the 36-20 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. JWU held Emmanuel to just 21.2% (7-of-33) shooting from the field and forced the Saints into 10 turnovers.
The Wildcats never looked back in the second half and continued to build on their advantage. The teams first 20 point margin came with 14:12 left in the contest on a layup by Greenaway. JWU then cruised to the 77-43 victory. It marks the fifth time this season the Wildcats margin of victory has been 30 or more points.
Johnson & Wales is now 22-5 while Emmanuel finishes the 2014-15 season with a 10-16 record. The Wildcats will travel to No. 1 seed Albertus Magnus for the GNAC Championship on Saturday, February 28th at 1:00 p.m. The winner of the game will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
*Release courtesy of JWU Sports Information