Pope Goes for 20-and-20, Lifts Men’s Basketball to 86-68 Win vs. Fitchburg State

BOSTON – Saints senior Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) became just the third player in Emmanuel men's basketball history to record a game of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds, helping the Saints to an 86-68 victory over Fitchburg State University on Tuesday evening in non-conference play.

Pope, who hit the mark perfectly with 20 points and 20 rebounds, joins a 2012 game by Theo Robinson and a 2015 game by Kyle Davis as the only other 20-20 games in program history. On both prior occasions, the two Saints scored 29 points to go with 21 rebounds.

The Saints opened up an early lead and never looked back on Tuesday night as a 14-0 run, all scored by sophomore Zaire Baines (Queens, N.Y.) and in a span of just 2:06, helped Emmanuel jump out to an 18-5 edge. The 14-point Baines run included 4-for-4 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line.

The Falcons battled back to one possession with a 13-2 run through the middle and late stages of the first half, cutting the deficit to 30-29. Fitchburg State never overtook the Saints lead, as baskets traded in the final 4:16 had the Saints leading 42-38 at the break.

Emmanuel broke away early in the second half with the help of a 21-4 spurt over six minutes, boosting their advantage to the largest of the night at 66-45. The three-point shot played a large role in the scoring run as Emmanuel was 4-of-4 in the 21-4 outburst.

The Falcons could only draw as close as 13 from that point but Pope was still shy of the 20-20 mark before a made layup with 2:39 remaining and an offensive rebound with 1:18 left gave Pope the 20-20 milestone in an 18-point win.

Pope added four assists and one block on 8-of-14 shooting in 34 minutes. Baines matched a career-high with 25 points, shooting a red-hot 8-of-11 on the night. The sophomore guard added a career-high seven assists in 31 minutes. Sophomore Ismani Cepeda (Roslindale, Mass.) scored a career-high 11, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in 19 minutes off the bench.

Falcons senior Javon Taylor (Cambridge, Mass.) had a team-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds in 34 minutes. First-year Matthew Drayton (Boston, Mass.) added a career-best 15 points while classmate Colin Quinn (South Hadley, Mass.) chipped in with a career-high 14 points.

Emmanuel (2-1) returns to play on Friday, Nov. 17 in the 40^th edition of the Emmanuel College Tip-Off Classic. The Saints host Endicott at 6:00 p.m. on Yosinoff Court.

The Falcons (0-3) finish up a three-game road trip through the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a game at Rivier on Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m.