Dec. 12, 2009

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College dropped an 86-73 decision to Albertus Magnus College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action played in the Jean Yawkey Center on the campus of Emmanuel College this Saturday afternoon. This was just the second GNAC game of the season for both teams. Albertus Magnus remains undefeated at 2-0 in league play, while Emmanuel is still seeking its first conference win of the season. The Falcons now improve to 6-1 on the year, while the Saints drop to 1-6 overall. This was the eighteenth meeting between these two programs. In the all-time series, the Saints now hold an 11-7 overall record against the Falcons.

The Saints opened up the contest with an early lead, scoring the first points of the game off free throws by senior guard Mike Jackson (New York, N.Y.). Emmanuel extended their early lead to eight points (13-5), when freshman guard Michael Mailhot (Norwich, Conn.) found Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) open on the wing for a quick jumper, forcing Albertus Magnus' second timeout with 15 minutes to play in the half.

The Falcons cut the lead to three points at 17-14 after a fast-break three-pointer from junior guard Walden St. Juste (Hartford, Conn.). Albertus eventually took the lead on another trey by St. Juste, making it 24-21 Falcons. Albertus extended the margin to five points (26-21) after a fastbreak lay-up by St. Juste with eight and a half minutes to play and forced an Emmanuel timeout. St. Juste's buckets were part of a 12-0 Albertus run and the Falcons led, 30-21 with 7:42 to go in the half.

Emmanuel held onto the lead for the opening ten and a half minutes of play, but St. Juste took over for the Falcons and rattled off 23 first-half points, including hitting 3 of 4 from behind the arc. Albertus Magnus led 49-37 at the break. Duke was the high-scorer for the Saints in the first-half, knocking down 8 of his 16 attempts from the floor. Emmanuel out-rebounded Albertus Magnus, 20-19, in the opening stanza. The Falcons got 23 of their 49 first-half points off of Emmanuel turnovers and Albertus Magnus scored 19 points off of fast-break baskets.

Coming out of the locker room at halftime, Emmanuel chipped away at the Falcon lead and managed to cut the margin to three points at 54-51 on a jumper by freshman guard Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) with 15:17 to play. The Saints would come no closer than three, as the Falcons extended their lead to as many as fifteen points late in the second half. Albertus closed out the afternoon with a thirteen point win, 86-73.

The Falcons shot 48% (31-64) from the field, while only connecting on 19 of 35 from the line (54.3%). St. Juste finished with 26 points on 10 for 16 shooting to lead the visitors. Sophomore forward Ray Askew (New Haven, Conn.) added 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Falcons. Freshman forward Jefferson Lora (Bronx, N.Y.) also notched a double-double for AMC with 10 points and 10 boards.

Duke led the Saints with a career-high 30 points, hitting 14 of his 26 shots from the field. He also grabbed 8 boards, blocked 2 shots and gathered 2 steals in his 31 minutes of action. Jackson and Everson each chipped in with 14 points and 7 assists for the hosts. It was a dismal shooting night for the Saints, who hit just 3 of 17 from long-range. Emmanuel committed 23 turnovers and 27 fouls in the loss.

This was Emmanuel's last game before the holiday break. The Saints will return to action on January 6th, when Emmanuel hosts the Gulls of Endicott College in a non-conference match-up scheduled to start at 7pm. Albertus Magnus will also be off for the remainder of the semester. The Falcons play next on January 6th at Trinity College at 7:30pm.