The Pride (9-1), which extended its unbeaten streak to eight games, faces No. 18 St. John Fisher (N.Y.) in Monday night’s championship game slated for 7:30 p.m. St. John Fisher improved to
7-0 after beating Rutgers-Newark, 68-50, in the other first-round game.
Aponte, who also had seven rebounds, led five players in double figures. Junior guard Derek Yvon (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points and moved into 20th on SC’s career scoring list with 1,168 points. Junior forward Mike DeCesar (Acton, Mass.) added 11 points and six boards, and senior center Kyle Marian (Darien, Conn.) and sophomore forward Damian Farley (Natick, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points apiece.
Emmanuel (4-3) was led by senior guard Keven James (Indianapolis, Ind.) and senior guard Jerry Etienne (Brookline, Mass.), who scored 15 points each.
SC jumped out to a 16-2 lead with Aponte scoring six points in the first 3:14. The Pride, which led 48-30 at intermission, shot 62.5 percent (15-24) in the half and hit 15-of-16 free throw attempts (93.8 percent). Yvon had 10 first-half points.
No. 18 St. John Fisher 68, Rutgers-Newark 50
Junior guard Sean O’Brien (Orchard Park, N.Y.) had 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists as 18th-ranked St. John Fisher remained unbeaten with a 68-50 victory over Rutgers-Newark in the first round of the Holiday Inn-Naismith Classic at Springfield College.
Four Cardinals scored in double figures. Junior forwards Mike McGee (Botavia, N.Y.) and Nick Bennett (Binghamton, N.Y.) had 12 points, while senior guard Jeff Sidney (Herkimer, N.Y.) added 11 points.
For Rutgers-Newark (7-2), junior guard Justin Carter (Paterson, N.J.) had 15 points and sophomore forward Jermont Horton (Irvington, N.J.) added 10 points and eight rebounds, but hit just 4-of-17 field goal attempts.
Leading 43-33 with 9:33 left, the Cardinals broke the game open with an 8-0 run over the next 1:41 to take 51-33 lead with 7:52 remaining. Sophomore guard Dan Mueller (Waterloo, N.Y.) keyed the run with five-straight points, and McGee drilled a three-pointer to give St. John Fisher an 18-point advantage.
Holiday Inn-Naismith Classic (Blake Arena, Springfield College, Mass.)
Sunday, Jan. 2
Springfield College 89, Emmanuel 66
No. 18 St. John Fisher 68, Rutgers-Newark 50
Monday, Jan. 3
Consolation game, 3 p.m.- Rutgers-Newark vs. Emmanuel
Championship game, 7:30 p.m.-No. 19 Springfield College vs. No. 18 St. John Fisher