2010-11 SEASON IN REVIEW
March 22, 2011
The Emmanuel College men's basketball team entered the 2010-11 season with only five upperclassmen to lead the squad, comprised of 11 combined freshmen and sophomores. Senior co-captains Tyrone Buchanan (Detroit, Mich.) and Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, Md.) returned to the court for their final season, with Buchanan missing all of 2009-10 with an injury. Also returning to the team was leading rebounder, sophomore Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) and leading scorer, junior Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.).
The Saints had a difficult start to the season, dropping the first three games of the season to MIT, Cortland and Moravian. However, Emmanuel surged back to grab a 92-91, overtime win at Wheelock College, with Buchanan tallying 32 points and 14 rebounds in the double-double effort.
Emmanuel grabbed back-to-back wins in its next contest, earning a 70-63 victory over conference for, Mount Ida in the home-opener at the Jean Yawkey Center. Duke led the squad with 21 points while freshman guard D.J. Fazio (Methuen, Mass.) grabbed an additional 14 points for the hosts in the win.
Following the team's first GNAC victory, the Saints struggled to regain their momentum, falling in the next four games to Amherst, Albertus Magnus, Endicott and Saint Joseph's (Maine). Sophomore Michael Mailhot's 11 points against Albertus Magnus led the team, while Everson scored 12 against Amherst.
The Saints picked themselves up from the losses and notched two more conference wins in the GNAC: a 66-53 victory over Suffolk and hard fought, 73-68 win over Rivier. Everson scored 25 points in the win over Suffolk, with Buchanan adding 12 rebounds to the stat sheet.
The victory over Rivier was a key moment in the season for the team, as it dressed only eight players for the matchup. Despite the lack of numbers in uniform, four Saints managed to score in the double-digits with freshman Brandon Jones (Windsor, Conn.) topping the squad with 17 points and freshman Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) grabbing 10 boards for the visitors.
Despite the team's inability to find wins over the next few games, Robinson made men's basketball program history in the team's 83-57 loss to Lasell by tallying 19 rebounds in addition to 16 points on the way to his first collegiate double-double. The 19 boards is a single-game, program record for the freshman, who topped Michael Hale '03 and Jeremiah Edison '01 and the 18 rebounds they posted in single-game efforts.
The Saints tallied another important win on the road at Suffolk with an 81-69 victory over the Rams. Mailhot scored a career-high 25 points in the win, while notching five three-pointers, four of which came in the second half for Emmanuel.
Everson again showed his talents in the team's 79-72 loss to Emerson on Feb. 12, with 25 points and 10 rebounds while going 9-11 from the free-throw line. Buchanan also stepped up in his final week with the Saints by notching 20 points in both contests against Norwich and Johnson & Wales, including 10 rebounds against the Wildcats to earn a double-double in his last game with the Saints.
Everson led the Saints with 295 points scored on the year and an average of 11.8 ppg. He was also the team's leading rebounder with 49 offensive, 91 defensive and 140 total boards for Emmanuel while also shooting 76% from the free-throw line. Buchanan finished second on the team with 10.7 ppg, having to sit out part of the year with a knee injury, but still managed to lead the team with 23 three-pointers.