2011-12 SEASON IN REVIEW
March 1, 2012
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College men's basketball team wrapped up the 2011-12 season with a 12-14 overall mark including an 11-7 record in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play. After failing to qualify for the GNAC playoffs in 2010 and 2011, the Saints returned to the 2012 GNAC tournament finishing in a regular-season tie for third overall but ended up drawing the No. 5 seed due to head-to-head tiebreakers.
The men opened the season hosting the 8th Annual EC Invitational tournament, coming away with an opening round 66-64 win over Wheaton College behind a 17 points, 14 rebound performance by junior forward Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.).
The Saints next three victories would all come at the hands of GNAC opponents, notching an 88-79 win over Johnson & Wales on December 3, a 67-39 road victory vs. Emerson College on December 8 followed by an impressive 64-41 road win over Norwich University on December 10 to give Emmanuel a 3-0 conference mark heading into the first semester break with a share of first in the league.
Upon returning to campus following the winter break, the Saints had to endure some tough times that saw the loss of several members on the roster as well as a few key injuries that left the team with, at times, only seven healthy bodies. EC dropped its first five contests to open the second semester including a heartbreaking 77-74 buzzer-beater vs. Suffolk University on January 10. One bright note during the skid was in a 56-51 loss to Saint Joseph's (ME) when senior guard Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) netted his 1,000th career point to become just the sixth player in the program's history to accomplish the milestone.
Emmanuel would regroup with a big 74-66 win over Anna Maria College behind 19 points from Everson and a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore forward Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.). EC would make it two in a row with a come-from-behind 69-67 road victory over Saint Joseph's (ME) on January 19 as Duke poured in a team-high 21 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. The Saints carried the momentum over for a third consecutive win over Emerson College on January 21, downing the Lions 64-48 at home to help Head Coach Jamahl Jackson notch his 100th career victory.
The Saints would register a home-and-home sweep over Rivier College by posting a 63-62 win on the road on January 28 before securing a 65-51 win at home on January 30.
On February 7 at Suffolk University, Robinson posted one of the most impressive individual performances in Emmanuel College men's basketball history, recording a monster double-double of 29 points and 21 rebounds in a 93-76 win. The 21 rebounds set a new single-game record, topping his previous mark of 19 which he'd posted three times over his career.
EC would wrap up the regular season with wins over Norwich (69-57 on 2/11) and Mount Ida (68-53 on 2/18) to end the year with an 11-7 GNAC slate which tied the Saints with Lasell College and Johnson & Wales University for the third-best record in the conference. Due to head-to-head play, the Saints landed the No. 5 seed for the GNAC tournament, drawing No. 4 Lasell College in the Quarterfinal round. During their only meeting during the regular season, Lasell was able to pull out a 76-64 victory on Valentine's Day in Newton, Mass.
In the playoff rematch, the two squads battled to a 40-40 halftime score before the Lasers were able to pull away late in the second half for an 80-73 win in the Quarterfinals despite getting double-digit outings from Everson (15), sophomore guard Brandon Jones (14), Duke (13), Robinson (11) and junior swingman Connor Morgan (Chepachet, R.I.) (11).
Duke ended the season averaging a team-high 14.0 ppg while Robinson ended his sophomore campaign averaging a double-double of 13.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Robinson's 11.7 rebounding average ranked second in the GNAC and sixth overall among NCAA Division III hoopsters. On the year, he also recorded 18 double-doubles to rank sixth overall in D-III. For their efforts, Duke was named to the GNAC All-Conference Second Team while Robinson earned Third Team honors.
Duke will graduate along with fellow seniors Nate Jackson (Middleboro, Mass.) and Andre Fuller (Troy, N.Y.). The three were the only remaining members of the freshman class that was a part of the 2008-09 team that made it to the GNAC Finals.