WILLIAMS-HINTON BUZZER-BEATER DOWNS EMERSON
Jan. 26, 2008
Boston, MA - Emmanuel's junior guard Rob Williams-Hinton (Oak Park, MI) drilled a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Saints a 76-75 win over Emerson College in a cross-town men's basketball rivalry on Saturday afternoon. The Saints improved to 11-5 on the season and 9-1 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), while Emerson fell to 13-2 overall and 6-2 in GNAC play.
The nail-biting game featured 8 lead changes and 9 ties. The Saints led for the opening four minutes of the game, but Emerson quickly took charge and held onto the lead for the remaining sixteen minutes of the first half and twelve and a half minutes into the second half. In total, the Lions led for 29 of the 40 minutes, but Emmanuel kept it close, never falling behind by more than 10 points. The Lions' largest lead of the game (10 points) came with five minutes remaining in the opening half of play. After a 29-minute Emerson advantage, the Saints went ahead late in the second stanza on a jumper in the paint by Williams-Hinton.
With under a minute to play, Emmanuel trailed by one, 74-73. After an Emerson miss by junior guard Anthony Remias (Cranberry Township, PA), the Saints regained possession and called timeout with 13 seconds remaining. The Saints came out of the timeout and turned the ball over, as William-Hinton tried to find Tyrone Buchanan (Detroit, MI) on a pick and roll. Emmanuel's Mack Spellman (Clinton, NY) then fouled Emerson's freshman forward Jon Showers (York, PA), sending the Lions to the line for the two-shot bonus with 4 seconds to play. Showers made just one of two and put the Lions up by two, 75-73. Emmanuel called another quick timeout before Williams-Hinton's heroics. The Saints passed the ball into Williams-Hinton in the backcourt and he was able to take three quick dribbles before launching the long-range game-winner.
Williams-Hinton knocked down 11 of his 21 attempts from the field and 3 of 7 from three-point range to total a game-high 28 points in 32 minutes of play. Rookie forward Tyrone Buchanan was the Saints' only other player scoring in double figures. Buchanan made good on 6 for 9 shots from the floor and 4 of 6 from the line for 16 points, while pulling down 6 rebounds. Mack Spellman grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while chipping in with 8 points in the win.
The Lions were led by senior guard Ben Chase's (Newburyport, MA) 24 points. Senior guard Will Dawkins (Springfield, MA) knocked down 6 of 11 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line for 21 points, while dishing out a game-high 8 assists. Sophomore guard Jeremy Shannon (Lowell, MA) hit 5 of 7 from the floor, chipping in with 16 points and a team-high 6 rebounds before fouling out with a minute and a half to play.
Both teams had just one loss in GNAC play entering today's battle. Both the Saints and the Lions lost on the road at Norwich University earlier this season. Emmanuel, now 9-1 in the conference, will play again on Tuesday night (1/29) in a non-conference match-up at Endicott College at 7pm. Emerson will host the Eagles of Daniel Webster College on Tuesday night at 7pm.