Newton, Mass. - In an instant classic, a game-winning pull-up jumper from junior Mahari Guerrier sent Emmanuel to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals. A career-high 30-point performance from junior Cameron Snowden fueled the comeback, as the Saints never flinched despite staring down the barrel of a 26-point first-half deficit. Emmanuel upset Lasell by a score of 76-74, grabbing the program's first road playoff win in a decade.
 
As action got underway in Newton, an Aidan Oliveira three gave the Saints their first lead of the night at 3-2, and it would be quite a while until they grabbed their second lead. From there, Lasell went on a 15-6 run to grab a hold of momentum, using the home crowd to fuel their energetic start.
 
After a layup from Snowden to cut it to 17-11, the pendulum swung back in favor of Lasell, as back-to-back threes from Tyler Costin and Esmer Madesko gave the Lasers a 12-point advantage at 23-11. Lasell did not stop there, they scored the next nine points of the match, grabbing a 32-11 lead, and looking every bit of a team that was ready to advance to the GNAC semifinals.
 
With 5:30 to play in the first half, the Lasers got their biggest lead of the night off a Madesko layup to bring the score to 40-14, two of Madesko's 29 on the night.
 
From there, the comeback was underway, two buckets from Snowden and a layup from Guerrier cut the deficit to 20 at 40-20. The Saints defense turned up the heat late in the first half, stifling Lasell as they only scored two points the last five minutes of the first half, going into the half with a 44-29 advantage.
 
In the second half, the script flipped, all the sudden the Lasers could not buy a three after making seven in the first frame. Facing a 49-33 deficit, the Saints rattled off the next seven points to bring the lead down to single digits for the first time since early in the first half.
 
With 14:00 remaining and Emmanuel still trailing by nine, a big three from Junior Noah Beaudet cut the lead to six, and all the sudden momentum was firmly on the side of the road team. A layup and a pair of free throws from Snowden and all the sudden it was a two-point game with under twelve to go.
 
With 7:40 to play, two big free throws from Guerrier gave Emmanuel a 61-60 lead, their first since it was 3-2. With 4:20 remaining, a loose ball found Manny Duran, who quickly swung it over to Beaudet who buried the top of the key three, giving the Saints their biggest lead of the night at 68-62.
 
The Lasers were not done though, as they quickly came back to tie it at 68 with 2:50 remaining. The Saints would grab six of the next eight points, holding steady at 74-70 before some free throws and a Madesko layup knotted the game up at 74 with 28 seconds to play.
 
With the game, and the season, on the line for Emmanuel they put the ball in the hands of Mahari Guerrier, who got to his spot and delivered with a clutch contested mid-range jumper to give the team the 76-74 lead with three seconds left. A half court heave from the Lasers just rimmed out, and the celebration commenced as Emmanuel completed the 26-point comeback.
 
Cameron Snowden led the way with a career-high 30 points, and a perfect 10/10 from the free throw line. Mahari Guerrier added in 21 points and 12 rebounds, including the most crucial two points of the night. Esmer Madesko paced Lasell, pouring in 29 points as his team fell just short.
 
Up Next
The Saints will travel to Stanish, Maine on Friday night for a meeting with the top-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine. The GNAC semifinal contest will tip at 7:00 PM with a spot in the championship on the line.