BOSTON, Mass. – February 22, 2022 – The No. 12 seed Dean College men's basketball team fell at No. 5 seed Emmanuel, 99-69, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament first round matchup Tuesday evening.

Dean ends its season at 8-17. Emmanuel improves to 15-10 and advances to the GNAC quarterfinals at Anna Maria tomorrow night at 7 p.m.  

Senior Traijan Powell (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) led the Dean offense with 20 points. Sophomore Marquist Muse (Franklin, N.J.) recorded a season-high 15 points on 5-9 shooting. Freshman Dion Zhuta (Middlebury, Conn.) was 7-12 from the field for 14 points to go with four assists. Senior Nick Sampeck (Blanco, Texas) scored 10 points, while senior Winston Bryan (Greensboro, S.C.) pulled down a team best seven rebounds.

Emmanuel received 17 points apiece from Donte Pope and Ryan Grijalva. Bryant Ciccio was third in scoring with 14 points, while Dakota Wheeler and Devin Pulsifer added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Bulldogs scored the first two buckets of the game, but Emmanuel quickly responded with a 12-0 run, capped by a Grijalva layup. Dean battled back to take a 24-21 advantage on a Sampeck trey midway through the half. The Saints then slowly pulled away by finishing the final several minutes with a 32-13 margin to take a 53-37 lead into the break.

Emmanuel protected home court in the second half and did not let Dean get any closer than 16 points en route to the first round victory.

The Saints shot 57.8% from the field and 53.6% (15-28) from beyond the arc. Dean was 43.9% from the floor and 31.6% (6-19) from long range.