SAINTS CAGE LIONS, 67-39
Dec. 8, 2011
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel Men's Basketball Team cruised to its second-straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win, topping Emerson College, 67-39, in the Lions' Brown-Plofker Gymnasium on Thursday night. With the win, the Saints remain unbeaten in conference play at 2-0 and improve to 3-4 on the season. Emerson falls to 1-7 on the year and 1-1 in the league.
The Saints scored first and led end-to-end, going up by as many as 29 points in the contest. As a team, Emmanuel shot 50% from the field, connecting on 26 of 52 attempts from the field. Along with their impressive shooting, the Saints out-rebounded the Lions, 38-22, on the night.
After maintaining a six-point lead at the break (33-27), the Saints pulled away late in the game, forcing the Lions into just 16% shooting in the second frame. While the hosts netted just 4 field goals throughout the final 20 minutes, the Saints went 14 for 28 to end the night with a near thirty-point win.
Sophomore Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) paced the Saints with a double-double of 16 points and 13 boards. Robinson went 7 for 9 from the floor in 28 minutes of action. Senior Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) paced added 11 points and 6 rebounds, while the backcourt tandem of D.J. Fazio (Andover, Mass.) and Michael Mailhot (Norwich, Conn.) combined for 14 points in the win.
Nathan Firn led the Lions with 14 points, hitting 5 of 7 shots from the floor in the first half. Firn was the only double-figure scorer for the Lions. Freshman Eli Kell-Abrams and Drew Venture each dished out 4 assists for Emerson.
Emmanuel will travel to Norwich University on Saturday to take on the Cadets in a 1pm start. The Lions will also play on Saturday, taking on Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I. for a 1 p.m. tip.