CHICOPEE, Mass. – Six Saints reached double-figure scoring as Emmanuel Men's Basketball (10-11, 6-4 GNAC) earned a road victory over the Elms College Blazers (4-18, 2-8 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.
The Saints trailed Elms throughout the first of eight minutes play, but a Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.) three-pointer began an explosive 18-0 run over a five-minute stretch. Emmanuel drilled five threes over the big run that took a two-point deficit and made it a 16-point lead.
Elms was able to cut the lead down to nine, but four points in the final four seconds of the half extended the Saints lead to double digits once again. First, Tim Greene (Bronx, N.Y.) hit a midrange turnaround jumper followed by a tipped inbounds pass by Grijalva that he was able to secure and then release a fading mid-range jump shot as the buzzer sounded. The strong end to the half put the Saints up 44-31 as the two sides went into the break.
Emmanuel held on to a double-digit advantage for the majority of the second half, but a 7-0 Blazers run saw the lead shrink to just five points with three minutes remaining. The Saints responded by outscoring Elms 15-5 over the remainder of the matchup, improving to 6-4 in GNAC play with a 90-75 victory.
13 threes on the day marked a new season-high for Emmanuel to go along with a season-high three-point percentage of 54.2%. 90 points is also the team's highest-scoring game of the season. Six Saints scored in double-figures in the victory.
Tahquell Cadle (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored a game-high 21 points for the Blazers in the loss. RJ Mayfield (Springfield, Mass.) added a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. For the Saints, Zaire Baines led the way with 15 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds. Tim Greene posted a career-high 14 points. Mahari Guerrier (Stoughton, Mass.) continued his impressive rookie campaign with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Up next, Elms will face a visit from Regis College on Wednesday (2/7) for a GNAC matchup at 5:00 P.M. The Saints will hit the road again on Wednesday (2/7) as they travel to Maine for a GNAC contest with St. Joseph's College at 7:30 P.M.