BOSTON, Mass. – Senior tri-captains Xavier Everson, Michael Mailhot, and Connor Morgan combined to score 49 points to lead the Emmanuel College men's basketball team past Norwich University, 67-59, Saturday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center. 

With the victory, the Saints close out their regular season with a 6-19 overall record with a 6-12 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action while the Cadets campaign comes to an end with a 6-19 record (3-15 GNAC).

In the opening stanza, both squads held leads early before a layup from Emmanuel junior guard Brandon Jones (Windsor, Conn.) gave EC an 11-10 cushion and put the hosts ahead for good with just under 14 minutes remaining in the half.

Emmanuel would continue to build its lead, pushing the margin to double-digits late in the first half following three consecutive free throws from Mailhot to make it 34-23 with 4:41 remaining. Over the first 20 minutes of action, the Saints shot 43.3 percent from the field and held a convincing 23-13 rebounding margin heading into the break with a 38-26 cushion. Sophomore Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) led all scorers at the half with 12 points.

Over the first three minutes of the second half, Emmanuel would go on an 10-2 run to take its largest lead of the game following a Mailhot jumper with 17:08 to play to give the Saints a 48-28 lead.

The Cadets continued to hang around and with an intense full-court press on, chipped away at the hosts lead to get back into the ball game. A jumper by senior guard Josh Cabrera (Providence, R.I.) with 10:22 remaining made it a 10 points game at 52-42. A few minutes later, Tullar would convert a pair of free throws to make it a two possession game at 55-50 with 6:39 to play but it would be the closest Norwich would get as the Saints responded with an immediate 7-0 spurt capped by a fast-break layup from Everson to bump their lead back to 62-50.

Despite a late flurry, Emmanuel was able to hold on for the 67-59 lead and will advance to next week's GNAC tournament as the No. 8 seed to face the No. 1 seed on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 PM.

Morgan finished with a team-high 20 points of 7-14 shooting from the field while Mailhot chipped in with 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Everson was just behind him with 14 points and a game-high six assists.

Tullar paced the Cadets with a game-high 24 points on 10-16 shooting while Cabrera capped his Norwich career with 13 points and four helpers.

Courtesy of Emmanuel Sports Information