Men's Hoops Storms Back to Top Dean in Season-Opener, 99-95

THE BASICS
Score: Emmanuel College 99, Dean College 95
Records: Emmanuel College (1-0), Dean College (2-1)
Location: Pieri Gymnasium, Franklin, Mass.
Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Time: 6:00 PM

THE LEAD:
Emmanuel College stormed back to erase a 20-point first half deficit to stun a raucous crowd and knock off Dean College, 99-95, in a wildly entertaining non-league men's basketball game on Tuesday evening.

The contest featured a pair of incredible individual performances from Dean seniors Jordan Booker (Waterbury, Conn.) and D'caran Anderson (Compton, Calif.), but it was the visiting Saints who put four players in double figures and nearly scored 60 second half points to secure the win.

Booker recorded a triple-double, ending with 34 points, a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with 11 assists and four steals. Anderson, meanwhile, drained as school-record 11 three-pointers on his way to a career-high 35 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Dean opened the game on fire, scoring 25 points in the first six minutes and after Anderson dropped in his sixth three-pointer a few minutes later, the Bulldogs were in front, 39-19.

The Saints slowly began to carve their way into the Dean advantage, allowing the Bulldogs just three made baskets over the final nine minutes while closing the half on a 21-7 run to go into halftime trailing just, 46-40.

Anderson and Booker continued to make shots to keep Emmanuel at bay for most of the second half, but when Zach Crisafulli converted a traditional three-point play and Marcus Fox scored off of his own miss, the Saint had their first lead at 81-80 with a little more than six minutes to go.

Dean scored and then took the lead back for the next four minutes until Fox muscled his way inside again. After Booker gave the Bulldogs the lead again at 87-86 with an off-balance basket, Emmitt Reddick drilled a three-pointer to put the Saints in front for good with a little more than two minutes left.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
The Bulldogs made 19 three-pointers, but they were outrebounded 48-42 and committed 23 turnovers and were outscored 46-12 in the paint.

In addition to Anderson and Booker's huge nights, Josh Croskey (Birmingham, Ala.) finished with eight points and eight rebounds and Jordan Lynch-Rexroth (Harrisburg, Pa.) ended with six points and eight rebounds.

Fox racked up 23 points and 16 rebounds for Emmanuel and Reddick added 20 points of his own.

The win for Emmanuel marks the first victory to start a new season since the 2011-12 campaign, snapping an eight-year skid in the Saints' season-opener.

UP NEXT:
Dean is off until Saturday when they host Fitchburg State at 6:00 PM. Emmaunel returns to action on Friday evening when they welcome Lesley University as part of the Emmanuel Tip-Off Classic at 5:30 PM.

*Release courtesy of Dean College Athletic Communications