Bradanese Nets 1,000th Point as Men's Basketball Falls to Emmanuel, 80-79

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's basketball team nearly squandered a 14 points second half lead only to hang on for an 80-79 victory over Anna Maria College Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at the Jean Yawkey Center.

The Saints win their fourth straight and fifth consecutive GNAC tilt to improve to 8-15 overall and 8-8 in GNAC play while the loss dips the AMCATS to 12-11 and 8-8 in conference.

BRADANESE NETS 1,000

Anna Maria saw a game-high 22 points from senior Patrick Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.). Bradanese entered today's game in search of 15 points to reach the coveted 1,000-point mark. He surpassed that in the first half alone, scoring 17 points on a 6-for-12 effort with four three-pointers in the first 10 minutes.

He becomes the second player this season and the 23^rd player in AMCAT men's basketball history to score in quadruple-figures.

AMCAT LEADERS

In addition to Bradanese, the AMCATS Saw 18 points from fellow senior Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) and a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds from classmate Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.).

Freshman LK Metz (South Yarmouth, Mass.) chipped in with a season-best 14 points off the bench, hitting 6-for-10 from the floor with a three.

EMMANUEL LEADERS

The Saints got a balanced offensive effort as Matt Raine led the way with 15 points while sophomore Colin Cordero added 13 points and five assists. John Clay recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Alex Minetti also finished with 10 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Leading 78-64 with just over eight minutes to play, the Saints looked to have the game in hand before Anna Maria reeled off an 8-0 run capped by a three from Delorey to cut the lead to 78-72 with 5:28 left on the clock.

A layup by EC rookie Will Jessup ended the run to give Emmanuel an 80-72 advantage with 4:27 to play before the AMCATS reeled off another 7-0 spurt to make it a one-point game following an old-fashion three-point play by McKissick with 1:39 remaining to make it 80-79.

On the next offensive possession, the Saints got three looks at the hoop but came up empty, giving the AMCATS a chance to take the lead with under 40 seconds to play but a turnover with 33 tics left gave the ball back to the hosts with a one-point cushion.

The AMCATS opted to not foul and it paid off as the visitors forced an Emmanuel turnover with 20 seconds left to play to give them what could be the final possession of the game. Anna Maria brought the ball up and with 10 seconds to play, McKissick caught a pass in the low post, spinning around for a layup opportunity. The ball circled around the rim twice before missing, allowing Emmanuel senior John Clay to grab the rebound with seven seconds on the clock.

After a pair of AMCAT fouls put the Saints in the bonus, Clay missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with three seconds left but junior guard Kyle Smith came up with a huge offensive rebound for Emmanuel. Smith was immediately fouled and he too would miss the front end of the one-and-one, this time with AMC senior guard Bradanese coming up the rebound and immediately calling a timeout.

After the timeout with 1.1 seconds to play, the AMCATS attempted a long distance Hail-Mary pass but the ball hit the ceiling and was ruled out of bounds giving Emmanuel possession under their own offensive basket.

Only needing to inbound the ball to seal the win, the Saints had a mishap of their own under their hoop as they were whistled for a traveling violation by the inbounding player, who moved his feet before the ball was inbounded, turning the ball back over to the AMCATS with 1.1 seconds still on the clock.

On their second attempt, the AMCATS hurled the long pass to their own offensive side and McKissick was able to catch and shoot a fade away jumper from about the free throw line. The shot, which would have counted, hit the front rim to give Emmanuel their fifth GNAC victory in a row.

An up-tempo first half featuring three ties and seven lead changes ended with the Anna Maria taking a 48-47 lead into halftime.

Following a three by Bradanese to put the visitors on top, 16-15 with 12:34 to play, Emmanuel put together a 14-2 run fueled by five points from junior center Raine to give EC their largest lead of the half at 29-18 with 8:31 remaining.

Anna Maria answered with a 21-10 flurry to tie the game at 39-39 and during the spurt, Bradanese hit another three and in doing so, scored his 1,000th career point.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Saints return to action on Tuesday, February 16 when they travel to Newton, Mass. to take on Lasell College at 7:00 PM. Anna Maria is back the same night when they play host to Rivier University at 8:00 PM.