BRONX, N.Y. - Five Saints finished in double figures with junior
Ismani Cepeda scoring a career-high 21 points, helping Emmanuel to its first win of the season, 88-84, in overtime, on Monday afternoon against the Lehman Lightning at the APEX at Lehman College. The victory moves the Saints to 1-9 while the Lightning drop down to 6-6 with the loss.
Getting to overtime involved sophomore
Mahari Guerrier hitting a pair of free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining in regulation, forcing the extra frame at 76-76.
In the overtime session, Lehman opened with six of the first eight points, giving the Lightning an 82-78 lead with 3:25 remaining. From that point, the Saints closed out the game on a 10-2 run, earning their first win of the season before the New Year.
After a pair of free throws led to the Lightning holding an 84-81 advantage, sophomore
Noah Beaudet hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 84-84. Beaudet then hit a pair of foul shots with under a minute remaining to give the Saints a two-point lead. The Lightning were unable to push back as more free throws fell in the final seconds for Emmnauel, on the way to an 88-84 win.
The Saints led by as many as 14 in the first half, but a second half of 57.7 percent shooting by the Lightning put them back in Monday's game. Lehman's strong shooting over the last minutes of regulation pushed them in front by as many as seven with 5:51 remaining, forcing an Emmanuel comeback to force overtime.
Cepeda shot 8-for-11 from the floor in his career-scoring performance, as he played 28 minutes off the Saints bench. First-year
Damani Williams added a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Sophomore
Connor Hanavan chipped in with a career-high 13 points while Beaudet and Guerrier rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points each.
Lightning senior
Kai Parris had a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting over 37 minutes.Fellow senior
Lasana Camara finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Saints finish out the 2024 portion of their schedule with a New Years Eve game against Montclair State at 1:00 p.m. Lehman is back in action on Jan. 3 with a 7:00 p.m. game against York.