74-70 Saturday afternoon in Regan Gymnasium.
The two teams played close throughout the game, a departure from their meeting in January that featured a 30-point Emmanuel win.
Suffolk started the game with a 9-0 run but Emmanuel followed with an 8-0 run to bring the Saints to within one. It proved difficult for one team to pull away in the first half, as six of the game’s 14 ties occurred in the first half.
Emmanuel took the late first-half lead after capitalizing on Suffolk turnovers in the final minutes. Levi Smith (Tulsa, OK) scored five points off of turnovers in a 30-second span for the Saints to give Emmanuel a six-point lead.
Emmanuel took a 38-32 lead into the second half but was not able to keep the lead for long. The second half looked a lot like the first half, with eight lead changes occurring in a nine-minute span.
Down by one with 4:02 remaining in the game, Suffolk co-captain Chris Tighe
(Easton, MA) hit a short jumper to give the Rams a 64-63 lead and some much-needed momentum. Emmanuel’s Smith followed Tighe’s score with a lay-up to put the Saints back in the lead.
Suffolk sophomore Brad Schoonmaker (Marion, CT) followed with a lay-up of his own to give the Rams a 66-65 lead. Emmanuel pulled away however, as senior Albert Hayle (Brooklyn, NY) converted a lay-up into a three-point play after he was fouled.
Tighe’s co-captain Chris Emma (Braintree, MA) kept the Rams on their feet in the last seven seconds, hitting a pair of free throws to bring the Rams to within three. Emmanuel’s Hayle was quickly fouled after the Saints in bounded the ball however, and made the second of two free throws to give Emmanuel the win.
Suffolk’s Tighe finished the game with ten points, eight rebounds and four assists. Emma was the game’s high scorer with 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Junior Peter Thompson (Braintree, MA) contributed 15 points and seven rebounds for the Rams.
Emmanuel was led by Smith, who scored 22 points and had six rebounds. Hayle finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Suffolk falls to 7-15 overall and 5-10 in the GNAC while Emmanuel improves to 13-8 on the season and 11-4 in the GNAC. Suffolk will travel to Norwich University on Tuesday to take on the Cadets.