No. 6 Emmanuel Edges No. 3 Anna Maria in GNAC Quarterfinal

PAXTON, Mass.—The sixth-seeded Saints of Emmanuel College knocked off the No. 3 AMCATS of Anna Maria College 76-73 on Tuesday evening in the quarterfinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament.

The AMCATS were led offensively by graduate student Quantez Franklin (South Yarmouth, Mass.) with 16 points. Juniors Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) and Patrick Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) both scored 13 points apiece, while classmate Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) added 10 points.

Bradanese also dished out a game-high nine assists, followed by senior Michael Gorman (Methuen, Mass.) who finished with six assists.

The Saints saw a game-high 20 points off the bench from sophomore Aiden Hadley (Owls Head, Maine) and another 18 points from sophomore Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.). Smith also dished out a team-best eight assists for Emmanuel.

The AMCATS held Emmanuel's leading scorer and rebounder, Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.), to eight points and five rebounds, but the rest of the Saints' lineup picked up the work. In addition to outscoring the AMCATS, the Saints also held a 35-23 advantage in rebounds, including a 10-6 edge on the offensive end.

The Saints took control of the lead early in the first half and quickly build a double-digit lead. They took their largest lead of the day, 14 points, just over six minutes into the game. The AMCATS spent the next six minutes chipping away at their deficit, and with 8:04 left to play in the first half, they finally came within single digits at 28-19.

Emmanuel would briefly take a 10-point lead at 37-27 with 4:50 on the clock, but the Anna Maria hit three-straight layups by Franklin, McKissick and Delorey to come within four points at 37-33 at the 2:55 mark. After opening the gap back up to eight points a minute later, the AMCATS finished out the half with a 5-0 run to trail by three, 41-38, at half.

The second half continued in similar fashion, as the Saints never held a comfortable lead. The AMCATS came within three points six times over the course of the second half, but each time the AMCATS looked like they were about to take control, the Saints hit a big shot to take a two-possession lead.

With 43 seconds left on the clock, Bradanese hit a layup, stole the ball on the Saints' inbounds play, and was fouled on his shot attempt. He connected on both free-throws to tie the game at 73-73.

The AMCATS almost picked up on a steal on Emmanuel's next inbounds as well, but the ball rolled loose in the center of the court and Delorey was called for a foul, sending Emmanuel's Josh Bushman (Hurst, Texas) to the line. He made his first but missed his second, allowing the AMCATS one final possession with 29 seconds to play, but a costly AMCAT turnover and foul allowed Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) to hit two free-throws and give his Saints a three-point win.

Emmanuel finished the game shooting 54.5 percent from the floor (30-for-55) and 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from three-point range. The AMCATS shot at 49.2 percent from the floor (29-59), including a 50 percent effort (7-for-14) effort from three-point range. The Saints also held a 12-8 scoring advantage at the free-throw line.

It marks the second single-digit game between the Saints and the AMCATS this season, as Anna Maria escaped with an 85-84 win two weeks ago.

The Saints improve to 10-15 overall with the win and advance to the semifinals on Thursday against No. 3 Johnson & Wales. Anna Maria (14-12) will await word of a seeding in the 2015 ECAC Tournament.