BOSTON – The Emmanuel Saints reached 100 points for the first time in over a year, with four Saints scoring in double figures, as Emmanuel finished their regular season home slate with a 100-58 victory over the New England College Pilgrims on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.
The Saints move to 12-12 (8-5 GNAC) with one game remaining in the regular season while currently holding the No. 5 seed in the upcoming GNAC Playoffs. The Pilgrims fall to 4-20 (1-12 GNAC), dropping their 11th straight contest in the process.
Thursday's penultimate regular season game was played within two possessions over the first 10 minutes before the Saints broke it open with a 15-0 run over the span of 2:38, in the middle of the half. Emmanuel led 23-19 with 10:03 remaining before starting their 15-point spurt.
Senior Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) started the run with a pair of free throws, followed by a made layup for junior Tim Greene (Bronx, N.Y.), giving the Saints a 27-19 lead. The run continued with sophomore Zaire Baines (Queens, N.Y.) making three consecutive shots from beyond the arc, scoring nine points in a 56-second span. Greene made a mid-range jumper to cap off the run, as the Saints were a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the floor, boosting their lead to 38-19.
The Saints moved their lead to 22 by the end of the half, closing the first on a 6-0 run for a 52-30 lead. Emmanuel shot 19-of-41 (46.3 percent) in the half, including 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from three-point range.
The hot shooting continued into the second half with Emmanuel growing their lead to as high as 45 after starting the half on a 36-13 run to grab an 88-43 advantage. The Saints race to triple digits was on as a three-pointer by Connor Hanavan (Richmond, Mass.) moved them to the brink. Junior Teddy Kelly (Gaithersburg, Md.) made a layup with 52 seconds left, breaking the 100-point threshold for Emmanuel for the first time since Jan. 26, 2023.
Baines scored 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. The sophomore guard played just 25 minutes on the evening and was a game-best +41 on Thursday. Pope added 15 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, in his ninth double-double of the season. Sophomore Ismani Cepeda (Roxbury, Mass.) and first-year Noah Beaudet (Norwood, Mass.) had 13 and 11 points, respectively. As a team, the Saints had 28 assists for the third-most assists in a single game in team history.
Pilgrims junior guard Alex Williams (Miramar, Fla.) finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Kyle Dzarnowski (Boca Raton, Fla.) also finished with 10 points.
Emmanuel heads to Anna Maria for a 2:00 p.m. tip in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 17. New England College takes a trip to Albertus Magnus to finish their season on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.