Sophomore Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) notched 25 points as the Emmanuel College men's basketball team halted its four-game slide with a 66-53 win over Suffolk University on Tuesday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass. The win gives the Saints a 3-7 record as the Rams fell to 4-7.

Senior Tyrone Buchanan (Detroit, Mich.) gave the Saints a boost early on in the contest, grabbing a hard board and a layup before feeding fellow co-captain Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, Md.) for a fast break and two more points. Carter-Hill extended the hosts' lead to five with a jumper before Everson grabbed another layup to make the score 9-2 as Suffolk called its first timeout.

Everson added the game's first three-pointer not long after the stoppage in play to give Emmanuel a 16-5 lead. Suffolk responded with strong play under the basket as senior Dan Williams (Taunton, Mass.) stood strong beneath the hoop to grab a rebound and finish with a bucket. Emmanuel remained the stronger team on the court and nearing the midway point of the first half, freshman Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) notched a trey and junior Andre Fuller (Troy, N.Y.) found sophomore Armani Gill (Boston, Mass.) with a no-look pass and finish to give the Saints a 21-8 lead with 10:07 remaining in the frame.

Suffolk sophomore Mickey McEntee (South Kingstown, R.I.) gave the Rams a flash of brilliance with a drive and acrobatic layup for two points, but the Saints still held a 23-12 lead with 6:30 left in the half. Sophomore Connor Morgan (Chepachet, R.I.) added a jumper from just below the arc for the Saints before Everson added two foul shots to push Emmanuel's lead to 16 with just under five minutes remaining in the half.

Junior Mike Gibbons (Ringwood, N.J.) sunk a deep three from the right side of the arc and teammate Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) followed right up with a trey from the opposite side to give the visitors six points before the end of the half. The Saints finished the half period strong and earned a 32-21 edge at the end of the opening frame.

Everson led all scorers in the first half with 13 points while Pepdjonovic topped the Rams with six points. Emmanuel led the points of turnovers battle with a 21-8 edge in that category while also tallying 14 points in the paint compared to Suffolk's six. The Saints shot 12-30 in the first half while the Rams went 6-21 and Emmanuel also won the rebound battle, 20-16.

Senior Allan Ray (Lynn, Mass.) grabbed the opening points of the second half for the Rams with a high jumper to cut the Saints' lead to nine but Carter-Hill came right back down the court to grab a layup down low to negate the bucket. Pepdjonovic banked in another shot off the backboard with McEntee adding a three-pointer soon after, but Welles hit a jumper with just over 11 minutes left in the game to give the Saints a 45-33 lead.

Gibbons hit another three-pointer for the Rams following a full timeout by Emmanuel and added two more points while receiving a pass at the top of the arc only seconds later to make the game 50-39. Senior Mike Fleming (Exeter, N.H.) drained another three for Suffolk to cut the Saints' lead to eight points with 7:32 remaining.

Pepdjonovic kept the pressure on the Saints with another two points under the basket to bring the score to 50-46; the closest it had been since early in the game. Buchanan helped keep the hosts in the lead with a powerful layup down low and freshman Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) followed his senior leader with a similar rebound and layup to push the score to 54-51 in favor of the Saints. Everson added a jumper and one and Gill showed his intensity on both ends of the court with a key steal in Emmanuel's end to prevent and scoring chances by the Rams. The Saints would hold on for the 66-53 victory.

Everson led all scorers with 25 points and Buchanan grabbed 12 boards for the Saints. Fazio dished out seven assists with Gill leading the squad with four steals. Suffolk was led by Pepdjonovic's 13 points and eight rebounds.

Emmanuel notched 26 fast break points compared to Suffolk's 16 and also won the points off turnovers battle with a 26-13 edge. The Saints also grabbed 45 rebounds while the Rams took 32.

(Story courtest of Emmanuel College Sports Information)