Nov. 22, 2008
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College men's basketball team handed visiting Endicott its first loss of the year, downing the Gulls, 65-54, on Saturday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. The Saints' freshman forward Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) led all scorers with 16 points for Emmanuel. With the win, the Saints improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Gulls fall to 2-1 overall.
The Saints out-rebounded the Gulls by a 45-31 margin and forced 19 Endicott turnovers. Emmanuel committed 24 fouls in the game, but caught a break with the Gulls shooting just 42.1% (8-19) from the line. The Saints carried a 3-point advantage (30-27) into halftime, before outscoring the Gulls, 35-27 in the second stanza.
Emmanuel jumped on top of Endicott early in the second half, with a three-pointer from senior forward Mack Spellman (Clinton, N.Y.) and two quick lay-ups by Duke. The Saints held their largest lead of the game, 18 points, with 6:24 to play (53-35). The Gulls clawed their way back and were able to cut the deficit to 8 points with 46 seconds remaining on a three-ball from sophomore guard Mike Rhodes (Amston, Conn.). Endicott turned up the pressure down the stretch sending the Saints to the foul line six times in the final 32 seconds. Emmanuel hit the free throws down the stretch and came away with the 11-point win.
Duke connected on 5 of 11 attempts from the floor and collected 3 steals for the Saints. His 16 points led three Emmanuel players in double figures. Senior guard Rob Williams-Hinton (Oak Park, Mich.) netted 13 points, pulled down 9 rebounds, and dished out a team-high 3 assists for the Saints. Spellman hit for 10 points, while freshman center Eric Spanbauer (Niagra Falls, N.Y.) hauled in 9 boards for the victors.
Junior guard Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, Maine) led the Gulls with 14 points. Rhodes chipped in the 10 points, while sophomore center Justin Martin (Cromwell, Conn.) collected a game-high 10 boards in the effort.
Emmanuel (1-1) will play agin on Tuesday night (11/25), when the Saints host Hamilton College in a 5:30pm tip. Endicott will host Colby College on Tuesday night at 5:00 p.m.
