AMCATS Downed by Warriors in ECAC Semifinals

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Despite 21 points from senior Anthony Click (Springfield, MA), the Anna Maria College men's basketball team fell to Eastern Connecticut State University 77-65 in the ECAC New England Division III Tournament Semifinals at the Woodward Center on the Westfield State University campus. The Warriors will face top-seed Westfield in the championship game on Sunday afternoon at 1pm.

With the loss the AMCATS finish the 2012-13 season with a 21-9 overall record, the fourth best in program history.

Click was joined in double figures by senior Javier Bristol (Haverhill, MA) and post-grad Brad Peterson (North Kingstown, RI). Peterson netted 14 points and grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds while Bristol finished with 10 points, 6 rebounds and two helpers.

Anna Maria built and early 5-point lead when Peterson made a layup in the paint at 16:04. The Warriors cut into the lead and tied the game 23-23 with 6:36 to play in the half. Eastern Connecticut notched back-to-back baskets to build a 5-point lead of their own late in the first half. Three consecutive Click free-throws to end the first half sent the AMCATS into the locker room trailing by only two points, 37-35.

Eastern shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the first half as compared to just 39.4 percent by the AMCATS, and allowed only two points off turnovers.

The AMCATS quickly tied the game with an open second-half basket by Bristol. The teams traded baskets over the first ten minutes of the second frame, however the Warriors were finally to break from a 49-49 tie and build a nine-point lead in the second half, with an 11-2 run over five minutes en route to the 77-65 victory.

With his 21-point effort Click finishes his career with 1772 points, ranking him third on the AMCAT All-Time list. Peterson finishes his four-year effort entrenched at number ten all-time with 1233 points. The loss to the Warriors also caps the careers of Javier Bristol, Jose Pena (Lawrence, MA) and Brian Conrad (Holden, MA).