Jan. 21, 2008
Box Score
Boston, MA - The Emmanuel Saints cruised to a 78-71 victory over Saint Joseph's College (ME) on Monday afternoon in GNAC men's basketball action. Junior forward Mack Spellman (Clinton, NY) netted a game-high 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Saints. Spellman entered the game just 13 points shy of 1,000 for his three-year career. He hit 6 of 10 first-half field goals and reached the 1,000-point plateau with 2:15 remaining in the opening half. In doing so, Spellman became the fifth player in program history and the third player this season to reach this 1,000-point milestone.
Emmanuel came out of the gates on fire, hitting 7 of 7 first-half field goals and going 3 for 3 from behind the arc. The Saints scored 18 points in the first three minutes of play. Emmanuel shot 47.4% from the floor (18-38) in the opening stanza and the Saints entered halftime with a 13-point lead, 36-49.
Junior guard Rob Williams-Hinton (Oak Park, MD) hit 6 of 14 shots from the floor, scoring 15 points for the host Saints. Williams-Hinton also pulled down 7 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and tallied 4 steals, with zero turnovers in the game. Freshman point guard J.P. Ventura (Riva, MD) chipped in with 12 points and 5 assists. Ventura was perfect from the line, hitting all six of his free throw attempts. Junior forward Andres Bustamante (Amherst, MA) connected on all of his shots from the field (4-4) and added 9 points and 4 rebounds for the Saints.
Saint Joe's junior forward Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY) recorded the team's only double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie guard Eric Friend (Portland, ME) chipped in with 12 points, while junior guard Scot Vachon (Schenectady, NY) dished out a game-high 7 assists for the visitors. The Monks out-rebounded the Saints, 56-48.
With this win, the Saints improved to 9-5 on the season and 7-1 in the conference, while the Monks fell to 7-6 overall and 5-3 in GNAC play. Emmanuel will be back in action on Thursday (1/24), when the Saints travel to Rivier College to take on the Raiders in a 7pm start.
