Buzzer-beater sinks men’s basketball at Emmanuel
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BOSTON — Emmanuel guard Mike Jackson drained a deep three-pointer as time expired to lift the Saints to a 56-54 victory over the visiting Bates College men’s basketball team on Thursday night. With the win, the Saints improved to 2-2 on the season, while the Bobcats fell to 3-2 overall.
Emmanuel jumped out to an early lead over Bates and held the advantage for the entire first half, as the Bobcats in shooting 22.2% (6 for 27) from the field in the half. Emmanuel had a balanced attack in the first half with 10 of 12 players scoring points early in the game. The Saints took a 26-23 lead into the break.
The Bobcats opened the second period on a 4-0 run and took a 27-26 lead on a lay-up by sophomore forward Brian Ellis (Braintree, Mass.). Duke scored just seconds later and put the Saints back on top (28-27) with 17:46 to play. Bates then rattled off eight unanswered points and took a 36-28 lead with 15:18 remaining. The Bobcats’ shooting improved tremendously later in the game, as they shot 48.1% (13-27) in the second half of play.
Bates held the lead throughout the majority of the second half and did not relinquish the advantage until the two-minute mark. After a bench technical called on the Bobcats, Mike Jackson netted two free throws to put Emmanuel up, 51-50, with 2:09 on the clock. Bates junior guard Chris Wilson (Brewer, Maine) hit two from the foul line to swing the lead back to the Bobcats (52-51) with 1:45 to go.
Jackson then nailed a jumper from the left side with 1:20 to play, putting the Saints up 53-52. After an Emmanuel foul and two subsequent Bobcat free throws by sophomore forward Nick Schmiemann (Weymouth, Mass.), the Saints trailed 54-53. Emmanuel was able to secure three possessions and had three good looks in the final minute of play. After two missed jumpers, the Saints were forced to foul.
Mack Spellman grabbed the board on the missed front end of Bates’ one-and-one and quickly outletted the ball to Jackson sprinting up the left sideline. The sophomore took two quick dribbles before letting it fly from well behind the arc. Jackson released the ball with 0:01 on the clock and drained the only trifecta of the night, giving Emmanuel a 56-54 victory over the Bobcats.
Jackson scored all seven of Emmanuel’s points in the final two minutes of the contest. Jackson and Duke led Emmanuel with 11 points apiece. Jackson also hauled in 8 rebounds, dished out a team-high 4 assists, and collected 3 steals. Rob Williams-Hinton added 10 points.
Bates was led by Ellis’ game-high 16 points on 7 for 11 shooting. Schmiemann added 9 points, hitting 7 of his 8 free throw attempts for Bates. Wilson struggled from the floor, but pulled in a team-high 9 boards in the effort.
Bates will travel to Bowdoin on Saturday for a 4 p.m. start in the teams’ non-conference matchup.