BOSTON, Mass. – Emmanuel College (8-3, 4-1 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's College (3-10, 2-3 GNAC), 87-77, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Emmanuel raced out to a 12-4 lead in the opening four minutes, but – after a timeout - Saint Joseph's posted an 11-4 run and trailed by just one point after senior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) capped the surge with a trifecta with 14:04 left in the first half.

The Monks tied the game at 21-apiece just over three minutes later when senior guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) hit a jump shot and maintained a two-possession deficit for the better part of the first half. The hosts held a 47-44 edge heading into intermission.

The visitors claimed their first lead of the afternoon 2:41 into the second stanza, when Curtis drilled a three-pointer to put his team on top, 55-53. Emmanuel countered with a 10-3 outbreak and held at least a five-point lead for the rest of the game.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Emmanuel shot 55.9% (33-59) from the floor with considerable leads in points in the paint (48-24) and bench points (46-9) in the conference triumph.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Foley led all players with 28 points and added five assists, three rebounds, and two blocked shots in the loss
• Curtis scored 24 points with four rebounds
• Sophomore guard Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) tallied eight points, five rebounds, and five assists

LEADERS – EMMANUEL:

• Sophomore guard Ryan Grijalva (Stratham, N.H.) led five Emmanuel players in double-digits with 18 points
• Sophomore guard Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and dealt five assists in the victory
• Sophomore forward Eljay Morris (London, England) was 6-for-8 from the field with 15 points
• Sophomore guard Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.) added 11 points, five assists, and three rebounds
• Graduate guard Zach Crisafulli (Easthampton, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, three assists, three steals, and a pair of caroms

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 19-9 all-time versus Emmanuel College.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Norwich University next Saturday in a GNAC contest slated to start at 3:00 PM.

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