BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Men's Basketball Team pulled out a hard-fought 81-77 win over Lasell College in the Jean Yawkey Center on Thursday night. This was the second home Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win in a row for the Saints, who improve to 3-9 overall and 3-2 in the league. Lasell drops to 1-12 on the season and 0-6 in the GNAC with the loss.
The Saints rushed out to an early lead, scoring seven points in the opening minute of play, including an and-one by Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.). Emmanuel was able to build a 17-11 advantage after a hoop in the paint by Alex Myers (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) at the thirteen minute mark.
Lasell then went on a 10-0 run with Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) knocking down a three-pointer nearing the ten-minute mark to give the Lasers their first lead of the night at 18-17. Another Lasell three-pointer, this time by Don Stephens (West Palm Beach, Fla.), made it a 21-17 spread with eight minutes to play in the half. Two Emmanuel hoops down low by Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) sandwiched a pair of free throws by Everson and the Saints found themselves back out in front, 23-21.
Lasers junior guard Rob Roy (Dover, N.H.) and Emmanuel's Myers exchanged trifectas at either end and the Saints held a 32-28 lead at the two-minute mark. Rookie swingman Rashad Dixon (Brockton, Mass.) drained a three on Emmanuel's next possession putting the hosts up by seven. Junior guard Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) made it three treys in a row for the Saints, when he stuck one from the corner, giving Emmanuel a double-figure lead at 38-28. After one final Lasell basket before the break, Myers beat the halftime buzzer, pulling up from downtown and draining the Saints' fourth three in as many possessions. Emmanuel took a 41-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Everson led the Saints with 11 points at the break, while Myers and Robinson added 8 apiece. The Saints shot 50% (4-8) from behind the arc in the first period and held a 20-16 rebounding edge. Ganesh led Lasell with his 12 first-half points.
Everson opened the second frame with two quick hoops and the Saints surged out in front by fifteen, 45-30. Lasell cut it back to single digits after three-pointers from Roy and Stephens with the Lasers trailing, 47-38 and sixteen minutes to go. A Ganesh jumper brought the score to 54-47, before Everson drained one from downtown and the Saints regained their double-figure lead.
With just under ten minutes to play, Stephens drilled his third three of the night and brought the visitors back to within seven at 59-52. Stephens dialed in again from downtown, before Robinson connected on an and-one at the opposite end and the Saints led 68-61 with six minutes to play. Welles converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Emmanuel went back up by ten (71-61) at 5:33. Ganesh and Stephens hit from long-range on back-to-back possessions to bring the Lasers back to within streaking distance, down 78-75 with 2:05 on the clock.
After an Emmanuel full timeout, Robinson scored on a put-back and EC went up 80-75 with 58.8 remaining. Sophomore forward Frank Apisa (Branchburgh, N.J.) laid one in on a drive for Lasell and brought the score to 80-77 with 41 seconds left. Robinson hit one of two from the line and put the Saints up four before a Lasell timeout with 11.6 to go. The Lasers couldn't connect on their final possession and the Saints pulled out the 81-77 win.
Everson collected game-high honors in both the points and rebounds categories. The senior captain scored a career-high 26 points to lead all scorers. Everson, who recently scored his 1,000th career point, shot 62.5% (10-16) from the floor for the game, while hauling in 13 boards in 26 minutes of action.
Robinson, who grabbed his 500th career rebound last weekend, recorded his 23rd career double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Welles added 10 points, while Myers and Dixon chipped in with 8 and 7 points, respectively.
Lasell was led by 25 points, 5 assists and 3 steals from Ganesh. Stephens finished with 17 points, including burying 5 of 9 from long-range.
As a team, the Saints shot 50% (32-64) from the floor and 50% (5-10) from three-point range. Emmanuel out-rebounded Lasell, 39-34, and the Saints scored 13 points off their fastbreak.
The Saints are back in action this weekend, when Emmanuel hosts the Falcons of Albertus Magnus College in a 3:00 PM start. Lasell will play host to Suffolk University in a 4:00 PM tip.