Rivier's Miles Gillette had 32 points to lead the Raiders to a win over Anna Maria on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Rivier Unversity)

NASHUA — The Rivier men’s basketball team defeated the AMCATS of Anna Maria College Saturday in conference action, continuing a path toward their best season in recent years.

The first half saw 14 lead changes and 10 ties between the two squads. Anna Maria spread the ball well through the first half as seven different athletes scored a bucket. Trevian Grenon has the team high through the half with nine points.

Rivier’s Miles Gillette was locked in the first half scoring 18 of his game-high 32 points along with five rebounds and three assists. Gillette helped the Raiders take an 11-point lead into the locker room.

Overall, Rivier (8-11, 4-8 GNAC) took the second half as well, outscoring Anna Maria 48-44. The Raiders saw their lead reach 17 points before the AMCATS(11-8, 7-5 GNAC) would fight back to shrink the deficit. Gillette added another 14 points to help finish off Anna Maria along with Will Parsons (Rowley, MA), who had 11 points of his own in the half.

Gabe Armstead and Ralph Grasso had a combined 21 points in the half, with Grasso scoring 11 and Armstead 10.

Rivier will be back on the court Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Colby-Sawyer.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

RIVIER 86, ANNA MARIA 69

Lyric Grumblatt had a game high with 24 points, and Alexa Dufries was just one point behind her with 23 as the host Raiders (7-11, 3-8 GNAC) cruised. Grumblatt also hauled in 14 rebounds.

Marinique Reddin had a solid second half scoring ten of her 17 points along with nine rebounds.

Mariah Carey and Franny Hammond helped keep the AMCATS in the game through the first half. However, Rivier would catch fire in the second half extending their lead to 28 points into the fourth quarter.

Rivier will be back Wednesday when Colby-Sawyer travels to the Muldoon Center for an 8 p.m. game.

MEN’S HOCKEY

RIVIER 3,STONEHILL 1

Raider goaltender Andrew LoRusso (Peabody, MA) racked up 37 saves in the win at Conway Arena, the Raiders’ first home game in nearly two months.

The first period ended in a 1-1 draw. The Raiders got on the board first just 56 seconds into the period. Milan Breczko (Klasterec, CZR) netted his 14th goal of the season. The Skyhawks responded 14 minutes later with their equalizer by John Peloso.

The Raiders (5-12-2) continued their hot second period streak with another two goals to go up 3-1. Breczko scored again to start the second period on a power play. Just 19 seconds later, Bryan Van Ness would add on the game’s final goal.

Rivier is scheduled to go back to Albertus Magnus for a 4 p.m. game on Tuesday.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL DROPS TWO

The Rivier men’s volleyball team fell in both matches Saturday They were defeated by #6 Stevens 3-1 with sets scores of 23-25, 25-23, 26-28, 23-25. Then, they fell 3-1 to MIT in their second matchup this season 3-1, with set scores of 10-25, 20-25, 25-21, 19-25.

In the match vs. Stevens, David Smith (Clinton, OH) had the game high in kills with 18. Raider Jack Normandin (Clifton Park, N.Y.) had 17 kills along with nine digs. Pedro Campos (Downey, Cal.) had a great day setting with 43 assists.

In the MIT match, the Engineers outhit the Raiders 48 kills to 39, for a hitting percentage of .305 (48-105) to Rivier .084 (39-119). They would also defend slightly better with 40 digs to the Raiders 32.

Smith had the team high in kills with 14, while Normandin had 13 kills and o Campos had 36 assists.

Rivier will be back in action Thursday at home against GNAC opponent Wentworth at 7 p.m.