SMITH’S BUZZER-BEATER POWERS MEN’S HOOPS OVER RIVIER, 74-72

NASHUA, N.H. – Junior guard Kyle Smith's layup at the buzzer lifted the Emmanuel College men's basketball team over Rivier University, 74-72, Saturday afternoon at the Muldoon Gymnasium. The Saints come away with a much-needed win in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action to improve to 3-11 overall and 3-5 in GNAC play while the loss moves the Raiders to 2-13 and 2-6 in the GNAC.

Emmanuel led by as many as 11 in the opening frame, taking a 27-16 lead following a three by senior swingman Rashad Dixon (Brockton, Mass.) with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half. Rivier responded with an 18-6 run to close out the half to take a 34-33 lead into the intermission as senior guard Lance Handy (Easton, Mass.) closed the half with an old-fashion three-point play, giving the hosts their first lead of the afternoon.

Rivier's Victor Davila (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) led all scorers at the break with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. The squads had almost identical numbers at the break, each shooting 40.6% from the floor (13-of-32). The Raiders owned a slim shooting advantage from downtown, hitting 5-of7 from behind the arc compared to the 5-of-8 from downtown.

In a back-and-forth second half that saw five ties and seven lead changes, it came down to the wire as neither team was able to muster up a lead of more than four points.

EC scored on the opening possession of the second half to regain the lead at 35-34 but Davila put the Raiders back on top at the 17:33 marker with a jump shot to put Riv on top, 41-39.

Trailing by three with 14:28 to play, Emmanuel freshman Joe Tamburro (South Windsor, Conn.) connected on a huge triple to tie the game at 42-42 and would go on to hit another three-ball to put the Saints back on top, 45-42. After a Rivier basket by senior guard Anthony Simmons (Stamford, Conn.) Tamburro made it a trifecta of trifectas with his third trey in a row to lift the Saints to their largest lead of the half at 48-44 with just over 12 minutes to play.

A 4-0 spurt by the Raiders tied the score at 48-all but the Saints would regain the lead on another three by Dixon and stay on top until the 6:28 mark when Davila converted an and-one layup and free throw combo to put Rivier back ahead 62-60.

The Saints answered with a three by sophomore Alex Minetti (Wakefield, R.I.) to retake the lead at 63-62. After almost two minutes of scoreless action, Raider junior forward David Lorden (Pepperell, Mass.) finished a layup to lift the hosts back on top by a point at 64-63.

Dixon would tie the game at 64-all making one of two from the free throw line before Davila gave the Raiders their last lead of the action with 4:17 to play with a layup to give Rivier the 66-64 cushion.

With 4:04 to play, Smith drained a three to pull the momentum back in favor of Emmanuel with a 67-66 lead. Dixon would pad the lead with two more free throws with 3:02 left to play, making it 69-66 in favor of the visitors.

The Raiders went to Simmons for a big jumper to with 1:35 to play to make it a one-point game but Dixon came up big in the clutch with a layup with 1:04 remaining to bump the EC lead back to three at 71-68.

On the next Rivier possession, the Raiders got a good look at the hoop but failed to convert. Emmanuel secured the rebound and was immediately fouled sending junior Matt Raine (Miami, Fla.) to the line for two. Raine made one-of-two to make it 72-68 with 48 tics left on the clock.

Davila found his way to the basket to make it a two-point game with 33 seconds to play, finishing a layup for his game-high 25^th point of the contest. After trying to steal the inbound, the Raiders opted to foul Tamburro with 23 seconds to play and it paid off as the rookie missed both bonus free throw attempts to put the ball back in the hosts hands with 23 seconds to play.

An Emmanuel foul with 16 seconds to play gave Rivier a one-and-one opportunity down by two but the Raiders were unable to convert the front end and on the ensuing rebound, committed a foul to send Minetti to the line to try and make it a two possession game with 15 seconds to play.

Minetti missed both attempts giving Rivier one more chance to tie the game and this time they were able to even the score at 72-72 with the help of an Emmanuel foul with only five seconds to play. Simmons was fouled and calmly drained both free throws to even the score before Smith broke free on the inbound and beat the buzzer with a game-winning layup to send the Saints home with a 74-72 win. Minetti was credited with the final assist.

Smith and Dixon each finished with 14 points in the win. Tamburro added 13 points while Minetti finished with 12.

Davila finished with a game-high 25 points for Rivier while Simmons added 17 in the loss.

The Saints return to action on Monday when they head to Providence, R.I. to take on Johnson & Wales University at 3:00 PM. Rivier heads to Albertus Magnus for another GNAC tilt that tips off at 3:00 PM on the same day.