Men's Hoops Tops Fitchburg State 67-59 Behind Pope's Double-Double

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel College 67 – Fitchburg State University 59

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (5-1)
Fitchburg State University Falcons (1-7)

Location: Boston, Mass. – JYC Gymnasium/Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2021

THE LEAD – Sophomore guard Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) recorded his second collegiate double-double to power Emmanuel College past visiting Fitchburg State University, 67-59, Tuesday evening in non-conference men's basketball action at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In an evenly contested first half that saw both sides hold leads, the Saints built their largest lead of the stanza with 1:48 to play on a three by first year guard Tim Greene (Bronx, N.Y.) to make it 31-23.
• The Falcons closed the half on a 4-0 spurt and an opening bucket in the second half by Darian Norwood (San Diego, Calif.) made it a one-possession game at 31-29, EC.
• Fitchburg was able to keep the game close, pulling within a point on three separate occasions during the second half including a 45-44 score with 13:03 to play after a pair of free throws by Kerns Monvilus (Coral Spring, Fla.) but Emmanuel answered with an 8-0 run fueled by a pair of buckets by sophomore Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.) to give the Saints a 53-44 edge midway through the period.
• Emmanuel pushed the lead to double-figures at 57-47 following a layup by Pope with 5:33 to play but the Falcons refused to go away, getting in back to  a two possession game late on a three by Kerns with 19 ticks remaining in regulation to pull FSU to within five at 62-57.
• The Saints sealed the win at the line, holding on for the 67-59 victory to improve to 5-1 on the year while the loss was the seventh in a row for Fitchburg State.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Pope finished with a game-high 19 points and a team-best 10 rebounds while adding a game-high five assists in the win.
• Senior Devin Pulsifer (Winthrop, Mass.) chipped with 11 points in a spot-start for the guard while Grijalva added 10 points and eight boards.
• Sophomore Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.) paced the Falcons with a team-high 15 points while Norwood added 14 and Monvilus finished with 12, respectively.

UP NEXT

• The Saints are off for a week and return to play next Tuesday, December 7 when they host MIT at 7:30 PM.
• The Falcons also play the Engineers next, traveling to Cambridge on Saturday, December 4 for a 1:00 PM non-conference affair.