AMCATS Upsets Johnson & Wales, Advance to GNAC Semi-Finals

Providence, R.I. – Sixth-seeded Anna Maria College's men's basketball team  scored and on the road upset by eliminating third-seeded Johnson and Wales University, 64-63 in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship at the Harborside Recreation Center on Tuesday evening.

Junior Anthony Click (Springfield, Mass.) narrowly missed a double-double for Anna Maria with 17 points and eight rebounds while freshman Hugh Daye (Worcester, Mass.) had a team-high 18 points with three rebounds and three assists for the AMCATS.  Freshman Corey Pryor (Northbridge, Mass.) and junior Javier Bristol (Haverhill, Mass.) were also in double figures with 13 and 10 points in the victory. 

Johnson & Wales was led by senior All-American Lamonte Thomas (Providence, R.I.) with 35 points and six rebounds while fellow senior Mike Harris (Providence, R.I.) had eight points and six boards in the loss for the Wildcats.

The first half was a defensive battle with Anna Maria holding a 12-8 lead midway through the stanza.  The AMCATS largest lead of the half came when a layup by Click made the score 18-10 with 7:26 left in the first half.  Johnson & Wales responded however and closed the gap to just one point after a jumper by junior Dan Barbour (Bridgeport, Conn.) cut the lead to 26-25 with 4:07 on the clock.  That would be as close as JWU would get though as Anna Maria took the 34-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Johnson & Wales chipped away at the lead in the early stages of the second half and took their first lead of the game as a layup by senior James Folk (Lawrence, Mass.) with 12:43 remaining in the second half put the Wildcats up 44-43.  A jumper by Thomas gave JWU their biggest lead, 60-51 with just over six minutes left on the clock.  Anna Maria battled back, however and tied the game 60-60 on a pair of free throws by Bristol with 2:36 remaining.  With the score tied at 62-62, a free throw by Folk gave the Wildcats a 63-62 advantage with :29 seconds left.  Hugh Daye knocked down a pair of three throws with just under 10 seconds remaining, giving JWU one final shot.  The Wildcats couldn't convert, however as Anna Maria held on for the 64-63 victory

With the loss Johnson & Wales finished the 2011-12 campaign with 12-14 mark while Anna Maria improves to 13-13 on the season. 

Anna Maria will return to action on Thursday, February 23^rd when they travel to St. Joseph's of Maine for the semifinals of the GNAC Championship.

Photo courtesy of David Sheridan