BOSTON, Mass. - Junior forward Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) netted a pair of free throws with under one second remaining while also recording a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Emmanuel College Saints to a 66-64 victory over Wheaton College Friday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in the opening round of the 2011 Emmanuel College Saints Invitational. With the victory, the Saints improve to 1-0 on the year while the loss drops the Lyons to 1-1.

After trailing 31-25 at the half, a pair of free throws by senior guard Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) pulled Emmanuel even with the Lyons at 46-46 with 10:00 to play in the half. The Saints would take their first lead since midway through the first half when Everson tipped home a bucket at the 8:34 mark to give EC a 48-46 lead before the Lyons pulled back ahead following a downtown trey from senior guard Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, R.I.) to make it 49-48 with 7:40 left in the game.

Both teams would trade hoops before Everson netted one of two from the charity stripe to knot the game at 51-51 with 6:31 left to play.

Sophomore forward Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) put the Saints back on top at 54-53 after making a backdoor cut to get position under the hoop. Everson rewarded the forward with a bounce-pass for the easy layup with 5:25 left in the contest. Emmanuel would continue to build the lead as Everson netted three more free throws over the next two possessions to extend the lead to 57-53 in favor of the hosts with 4:14 left in the second half.

An old-fashion three-point play by Dednan made it 57-56 with 3:43 remaining but sophomore guard D.J. Fazio (Methuen, Mass.) would answer for the Saints with his first bucket of the evening to pull the EC lead back to three at 59-56 with just over three minutes on the clock.

Everson would make it a two possession game, hitting one of two from the line to give Emmanuel a 60-56 lead before Robinson converted an and-one basket and three throw with 1:11 left to put Emmanuel in front, 64-56.

Wheaton would make it interesting as junior guard Scott Faucher (Lebanon, N.H.) connected on a three from the corner with 25 seconds remaining, pulling the Lyons to within a basket at 64-62 and then turn the Saints over to have a chance to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, Wheaton would give the ball away on a traveling violation but the Saints would return the favor allowing the visitors to tie the contest at 64-64 with 7.4 seconds remaining after a layup by freshman guard Jaycob Morales (Lawrence, Mass.).

In the game's last possession, Robinson drove to the hoop and put up a layup that hit off the back rim, landing in the hands of Everson who immediately went back up, drawing a foul with 0:00.5 seconds left on the clock. Everson stepped up to the line an connected on both attempts to seal the 66-64 victory.

In the first half, the Saints jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after Everson finished off a fast break layup, forcing the Lyons to take an early timeout at the 17:42 mark. Coming out of the timeout, Emmanuel would increase the lead to 11-2 following a pair of free throws Everson but the lead was shortlived as Wheaton would regroup and over the next eight minutes, produce a 15-2 run to take a 17-13 lead in the contest with 9:25 to play in the opening stanza.

The Lyons would continue to roll, extending their lead to 26-14 following two free throws by Morales with 5:24 left to play in the frame but the Saints would close the half on a 11-5 spurt to make it a 31-25 contest heading into the halftime intermission.

Duke finished the game with 15 points to go along with eight boards while Robinson also notched a double-double with 14 rebounds and 13 points for the Saints.

Morales paced the Lyons all night with a team-high 17 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor while Degnan chipped in with 12 points in the effort.

Both teams will be back in action tomorrow as the Saints will play the winner of the Westfield State vs. Wheelock match at 7:00 PM in the championship game while the Lyons will take on the other opponent in the consolation game at 5:00 PM.