Box Score BOSTON, Mass – After a down-to-the-wire victory by the Women's basketball team, the men's squad made it a perfect day for the Lions during Saturday afternoon's double-header. Michael Thorpe led the Lions with 25 points, while Jon Goldberg added 12 points and 14 rebounds as Emerson pounded Clark for an 89-59 victory.
EC improves to 13-9 and 6-5 in NEWMAC play, while Clark falls to 12-10 and 3-8 in conference matches. The Lions are 2-0 against Clark this season, first defeating them at Clark 62-57 on January 15.
The second match wasn't nearly as close.
The Lions were on fire on all cylinders, shooting 58% from the field and 52.6% from 3-point range. Defensively, EC held Clark to a paltry 29.3% shooting. Goldberg led the Lions with three steals.
In the first half, Emerson went out to a quick lead and never looked back. EC was sharp from jump, amassing a 13-5 lead over Clark in the opening minutes. Emerson easily dissected the Cougar defense, and found success early in the paint. Easy layups by Thorpe and Goldberg complimented by Eli Kell-Abrams solid perimeter shooting allowed the Lions to end the half with a 42-24 lead.
The second half started slowly for the EC, who failed to make a basket until nearly four minutes into the period. However, following a layup by Thorpe to end a 5-0 Clark run, the Lions effectively took over the game.
The bench for Emerson played superb. Jacob Forchheimer added eight points and Sean Duffy provided clutch defense in the second half to turn the tide in EC's favor. Clark cut the deficit to 14 points with seven minutes left to play before Duffy made a clutch rebound as Emerson responded with a quick three followed by a layup to extend the lead once again.
The game got chippy near the end, with both teams earning technical fouls. The Emerson bench brought the game home as Emerson scored 47 points in the second half.
The Lions will return to action Feb. 12 when they travel to play the Coast Guard Bears for a 5:30 p.m. tip
Written by Keely Flanagan, Emerson Athletic Media Relations
