BOSTON, MASS. - Emerson College (17-8, 13-5 Great Northeast Athletic Conference) overcame a slow start and rallied to defeat Rivier College (14-11, 9-9 GNAC) 64-55 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball action at Emerson's Brown-Plofker Gym. The win sews up second place in the Conference for Emerson and the second seed in the GNAC tournament. The Lions will face Albertus Magnus College in a first round game at home on Tuesday at 7:00pm.

Emerson didn't score for the first six minutes of the game and trailed 6-0 following a layup by Rivier's Lance Bisson (Sr., Nashua, N.H.). A three-point shot by Tom Messinger (So., Florence, Mass.) finally broke the ice for the Lions at the 13:56 mark of the first half, but Rivier ran the lead to 16-7 following a three from Felipe Lima (Sr., Nashua, N.H.)at the mid-way point. Emerson battled back to get the game to within three at the half on two Jeremy Shannon (Jr., Lowell, Mass.,) free throws with three ticks remaining in the opening stanza.

Shannon opened the second half with a jumper to pull the Lions to within 29-28 just 16 seconds into the half. Following a layup by the Raiders' Dj Poitras (So., Bow, N.H.) and a free throw by Bisson, Shannon hit two free throws and Nate Firn (Fr., Waldesboro, N.C.) scored a layup to forge the first tie since the opening tip. Two more Shannon free throws and a Bryan Rouse (Jr., East Greenwich, R.I.) foul shot were answered by a trifecta from Rivier's Kevin Harrington (Sr., Center Ossipee, N.H.). A Bisson layup and a Nick Bean (So., East Longmeadow, Mass.) three forged a 40-35 lead for the Raiders.

Frin hit a layup and Messinger dropped a three to pull Emerson back even. Bisson then hit a layup but was called for a technical foul. Messinger hit one of the two technical free throws to cut the Rivier lead to 42-41. Shannon hit a layup on the ensuing possession to give the Lions a 43-42 lead that stretched to 45-42 on another Shannon layup. That was quickly answered by a Joe Granato (Fr., Arlington, Mass.) three ball to pull the Raiders even, but Emerson's Zach Cole (So., Newton, Mass.) nailed a three to give the Lions a 48-45 lead with at the 9:30 mark.

After a Shannon Jump shot opened a five point lead, Granato drilled a three to cut the Emerson lead to two points. Shannon responded with a three ball of his own to forge a 53-48 advantage. A Bisson three cut Emerson's advantage to 55-53 with 6:09 remaining. Shannon and Bisson then traded layups to keep the margin at two points with 5:27 left.

Neither team was able to score for the next minute and a half until Emerson's Anthony Remias (Sr., Cranberry Township, Pa.) hit a driving layup on a beautiful feed from Shannon.  Messinger hit another three with 2:05 remaining to give the Lions a 62-55 lead and two Firn free throws with 0:47 left sealed the win for the Lions.

Shannon had a huge game for Emerson scoring 24 points (18 in the second half) and adding 13 rebounds and seven assists. Messinger was the only other Lion in double figures with 12 points.

Bisson's 16 points marked the only Raider who was in double figures. Poitras had nine points and nine boards.