FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In a rematch of last year's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Basketball Tournament Championship, top-seeded Johnson & Wales University and third-seeded Albertus Magnus College will meet at the Wildcat Center in Providence, R.I. on Saturday afternoon (1:00 PM) after both teams earned GNAC Semifinal victories on Thursday night.

JWU, ranked No. 14 in the nation and sixth in the final Division III Northeast Regional Rankings, handled fifth-seeded Emmanuel College, 97-79, on Thursday, while defending GNAC champion Albertus Magnus held off second-seeded Lasell College on the road, 87-80. The Falcons had previously lost to Lasell in both regular-season matchups.

Joe Malkin and John Parente will have the call from Providence on Saturday afternoon. Be sure to catch all the action at thegnac.tv. 

#3 ALBERTUS MAGNUS 87, #2 LASELL 80
NEWTON, Mass. – The frontcourt tandem of freshman Shontaey Lovell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and sophomore Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) each recorded double-doubles to lead Albertus Magnus past NLasell, 87-80, on Thursday evening inside Athletic Center Gym.

With their sixth straight victory, the Falcons improve to 20-5 on the year and advance to Saturday's conference championship, while the Lasers see their season come to an end with an 18-9 mark. AMC is in search of its fifth consecutive conference crown and has won 14 straight GNAC Tournament games.

In just 20 minutes of action, Lovell registered his league-leading 16th double-double of the winter courtesy of a 22-point, 12-rebound effort. He knocked down 7-of-9 shots from the field and canned all eight of his free-throw attempts for the guests. Walters played the entire contest for the Falcons, scoring 21, grabbing a game-high 18 boards and dishing out six assists. Walters hit eight shots from the field to go along with two steals and a block on the defensive end.

Albertus Magnus blew open a close game in the second half, shooting 45 percent from the field and getting 16 points in the paint from Walters and Lovell. The Falcons used a 15-3 run midway through the second stanza capped by a layup from Lovell to stretch their lead to 18 at 66-48.

With AMC is some foul trouble, Lasell cut the deficit to just four at 75-71 with two and a half minutes left in regulation following a pair of free throws from senior forward Logan Liberty. Over the final minute of regulation, Albertus Magnus hit its free-throw shots, scoring its final nine points from the charity stripe to stave off the late Laser rally.

After the opening minutes of the first half, the Falcons led throughout the remainder of the frameand the contest. A trey from Lasell sophomore guard Scott Arsenault gave the hosts a 5-3 edge two and a half minutes into play. Albertus Magnus would respond with an 18-7 spurt capped by a jumper from senior wingMarc Wilson (Jersey City, N.J.) to lead 21-12 with 10:01 left in the half.

Five minutes later, the guests would stretch their advantage to 11 at 30-19 after a layup in transition from Walters. The Lasers would score nine of the next 11 points over a three minute spand to cut the deficit to four at 32-28 after an offensive rebound and putback from senior forward Pat Marchand.

Down the stretch, AMC stretched its lead back to seven at 38-31 following a layup from Walters before Lasell ended the half with four straight points to trail by three at 38-35 heading into the break. During the opening the 20 minutes, Albertus Magnus got to the foul lines 11 times and forced nine Laser turnovers.  

Junior guard Grant Ellis (Newark, N.J.) and freshman point guard Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.) both also finished in double figures for the guests, pouring in 14 and 10, respectively. Ellis got 12 of his points in the fist half and ended the tilt by knocking down all five of his attempts from the free-throw line. Pittman continues to mature in the Falcon offense, adding two rebounds, two assists and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.

Offensively, junior guard Armin Ovanovic paced the Laser attack with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-25 shooting to go along with four rebounds and five assists. Three other Lasell players scored in double figurs with Robert O'Brien netting 17, while big men Marchand and Liberty poured in 15 and 11, respectively.

Albertus Magnus returns to action on Saturday, February 27, traveling to the Ocean State to square off with top-seeded and nationally-ranked Johnson & Wales in the GNAC Championship. The clash gets underway at 1:00 pm and the winner will earn the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

For the latest information on the men's basketball team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.

Courtesy of Albertus Athletics Communications.

#1 JWU 97, #5 EMMANUEL 79
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Limited to less than 75 points in two out of its last three games, the Johnson & Wales University men's basketball team found its offensive rhythm Thursday in the GNAC Tournament semifinals. 

Records:
Emmanuel: 10-17
Johnson & Wales: 25-2 

JWU Statistical Leaders:
Quarry Greenaway: 36 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists
Tom Garrick: 19 points, 3 assists
Anthony Jernigan: 16 points, 6 steals, 4 assists

The Lead:
The Wildcats advanced to their second traight GNAC Final by shooting 60 percent (30-of-50). It was Johnson & Wales' best shooting night since hitting 60 percent against Albertus Magnus – its opponent in the finals – on January 13. The Wildcats shot 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from behind the arc.

Of Note:
Emmanuel matched the Wildcats shot-for-shot in the opening minutes and took a 10-9 lead on John Clay lay-up. A pair of Tom Garrick (Seekonk, Mass.) baskets highlighted an 11-0 run that was capped by a Jarell Lawson (Providence, RI) three-pointer to put JWU up 20-10. The Saints kept it close, and even closed the lead to 29-21 at the 6:30 mark, but Johnson & Wales ended the half on a 20-10 run to go into the half up 49-31.

Leading all scorers was Quarry Greenaway (Westchester, NY) as he poured in 36 points, including 16-of-20 from the free throw line. The nation's number five scorer has recorded 30 or more points in four of his last six games. Greenaway added a game-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double in a row and 13th of the year.

Three other Wildcats reached double figures with Garrick close behind at 19 markers. Point guard Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.) had 16 points, six steals and four assists. He leads the country with 3.70 steals per game. Senior Robert Lewis (Providence, RI) was next 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks.

Clay led the Saints with 20 points. Kyle Davis just missed a double-double at 15 points and nine rebounds. Kyle Smith was the third EC player in double figures as he added 12.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, February 23 | RECAP
Game 1: #1 Johnson & Wales 73, #8 Saint Joseph's Maine 36 | BOX
Game 2: #5 Emmanuel 91, #4 Anna Maria 89 | BOX
Game 3: #3 Albertus Magnus 109, #6 Mount Ida 87 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Lasell 78, #7 Suffolk 64 | BOX

Semifinals - Thursday, February 25
Game 5: #1 Johnson & Wales 97, #5 Emmanuel 79 | BOX
Game 6: #3 Albertus Magnus 87, #2 Lasell 80 | BOX

Championship - Saturday, February 27
Game 7: #3 Albertus Magnus at #1 Johnson & Wales - 1:00 PM

– #TheGNAC –