BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team (2-8, 2-2 GNAC) matched a season-high with ten three pointers to earn a 70-64 victory over Norwich University (3-8, 0-4 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup on Tuesday night.
Senior captain John Clay (Westport, Mass.) opened the evening with three threes of his own in the opening four minutes to help the Saints to an early 11-5 lead.
Both teams dialed it up from long distance in the first half, as the two sides combined for 10 threes in the opening 20 minutes.
The Saints led for nearly 12 minutes to begin play, until Norwich sophomore guard Zygimantas Sirvydas (Silale, Lithuania) knotted things with a free throw and sophomore guard Ryan Fitzgerald (Winchester, Mass.) converted on a three-point play to give Norwich a 21-18 lead.
Emmanuel head coach Jamahl Jackson used a full timeout to reset the troops with 6:43 left and the Cadets holding a 23-21 lead, but Norwich extended its lead coming out of the huddle.
A brief 8-4 run for the Cadets over a span of 3:10 gave the visitors the game's largest lead at the time at 31-25 with 3:33 remaining.
The hosts closed out the first half with eight unanswered points to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room. Clay and sophomore forward Alex Minetti (Wakefield, R.I.) each had 11 points in the frame on six threes combined.
Freshman forward Will Jessup (Westwood, Mass.) kept pace with Minetti and Clay after the break, knocking down back-to-back treys to open the half.
After Norwich took a 47-41 lead, senior captain Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) led a massive 12-0 run to give Emmanuel its largest lead of the game at 53-47. Davis scored six points, a block, and two rebounds in the stretch.
The Cadets got a triple from junior guard David Hampton (Lebanon, N.H.) to cut the lead in half with 8:00 to play, but the Saints fought off any further rally to take a 57-52 lead into a timeout.
Trailing 60-56, Norwich had a chance to get within one possession, but sophomore guard Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) took a charge to stop the momentum with 2:20 left. Junior guard Julian Diggs (Upper Marlboro, Md.) did his part on the offensive end with a floater and two free throws on consecutive possessions to give the Saints a seven-point lead that they would not relinquish.
Sirvydas led all scorers with 17 points in the losing effort and dished out seven assists alongside three rebounds.
Minetti was the top scorer for Emmanuel, as he notched 16 points thanks to 5-9 from the field and 4-6 from long distance. Davis also did his part with six points and nine rebounds, along with an assist, a steal, and two blocks.
The Saints will have Wednesday off before heading to Worcester, Mass. to take on Anna Maria College at 6:00 p.m. in another GNAC battle.