CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A 15-0 run during the final minutes of the first half proved to be the difference as Emerson College rode the surge to a 66-56 victory over MIT in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball game. Senior Lampros Tsontzos (Amarousion, Greece) led the Engineers with a career-high 24 points, with senior Tyson Hallowell (Lincoln, Mass.) pacing the Lions with 18.

With the scored tied at 4-4 after four minutes of play, MIT (12-4, 4-2 NEWMAC) scored seven straight, four from Tsontzos, to take an 11-4 lead. Emerson (6-11, 1-5 NEWMAC) came back to tie the game at 13-all when senior Austin Pinckney (Miami, Fla.) hit a three, but MIT answered with six straight, four again coming from Tsontzos, to take a 19-13 advantage at the 9:46 mark.

With 7:19 left in the half senior Russell Johnson (New York, N.Y.) pulled down an offensive rebound and put the miss back to make it 23-18, but two minutes later a steal by senior Sean Duffy (Berwyn, Pa.) led to a three-point play at the other end from Hallowell. That started the 15-0 run for Emerson, with Hallowell getting things going by scoring the first seven points of the surge. The Lions' defense held the Engineers without a shot from the floor for over three minutes and when Hallowell ended the run with a jumper with 32 seconds left, the Lions had pushed to a 33-23 lead. A basket with four seconds left by freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) made it an eight-point game at the half.

Emerson hit the first basket of the second half, but MIT picked up back-to-back hoops from Tsontzos to cut the Lions' lead to six. A three from freshman Geoffrey Gray (Newton, Mass.) put Emerson back up by nine, but the Engineers stayed within striking distance, and at the midway point of the half another basket by Tsontzos had the Emerson lead at nine again at 43-34.

MIT did not score again for over three minutes and Emerson took advantage, scoring nine straight to take a 52-34 lead after a pair of free throws by senior Michael Thorpe (Newton, Mass.). MIT made a late charge, going on a 12-2 run that had the Engineers back within eight at 62-54 on a three from senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.), but with just 30 seconds left there was not enough time to complete the comeback attempt.

For Emerson it was just the third win for the Lions in the history of the series and broke a 10-game losing streak to MIT dating back to the 2007-08 season. MIT out shot Emerson, 48.0 to 41.2 percent, but the Lions hit on 20 of 28 free throw attempts and scored 20 points off of 19 Engineer turnovers.

Pinckney added a double-double for Emerson with 11 points and 12 rebounds, with Tsontzos also completing a double-double with 12 boards. Jomard added 17 points for MIT, which hit just one of nine three-point attempts.

MIT will complete the first half of the NEWMAC season on Wednesday night, hosting Wheaton College at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27, Emerson will also be at home on Wednesday, with Springfield College visiting for a 5:30 p.m. contest.