WEST PALM BEACH, FLA – The Emmanuel Men's Basketball team continued tournament play this afternoon at Palm Beach Atlantic University, facing off against the Lynn University Knights. The Lions took the lead early, but the Knight rallied to tie things at 33-33 heading into the break. The teams kept things competitive in the second half, but the Knights came away with the victory, 83-76. With the loss, the Lions fall to 1-6 on the season, 1-1 in conference action.
The Lions took an early 5-0 lead on buckets by
Ezra McKee and
Devin Story, but the Knights quickly tied things up at 5-5. The Lions pushed their lead to 9, on free throws by McKee to make it 23-14 with 9:10 to play in the first half. The Knights took their first lead of the game with 5:10 to play in the half, 26-25. The teams traded points and the lead the rest of the half, with a key three-pointer by
Isaac Jones knotting the game at 33-33 heading into the break. In the first, the Lions shot 13-25 from the field (52%) and 6-12 from three-point range.
The second half saw the Knights take the lead early but the Lions kept things close with key plays by
Brady Peery and Andrija Vucjacic. Back-to-back threes by the Knights pushed Lynn's lead to 12 with 14:32 to play, but threes by Vujacic and Jones and a dunk by McKee would cut the Knights lead to 9 with 11:15 to play.
Massimo Moretti brought energy late in the half, connecting from three and from the foul line to make it 64-57, Knights with 6:56 to go. The Knights got hot offensively late, pushing their lead to as much as 13 with 3:09 to go, but McKee, Story and Peery would close out the game strong for the Lions, cutting Lynn's lead to five with 30 seconds to play. The Knights would go on to take the game, 83-76. The Lions were 16-36 from the field and 5-11 from beyond the arc in the half.
Devin Story led the way for the Lions with 24 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Ezra McKee added 21 points and led the team in rebounds with 9.
Next up, the Lions will travel to Due West, SC to face Erskine College in conference action on December 3 at 7PM.
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.
