Box Score THE BASICS
Score: Emerson 73, Suffolk 58
Records: Emerson Lions (2-0) ; Suffolk Rams (1-3)
Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym)
Date: Tuesday, November 21, 2017
The Lead: The Emerson men's basketball saw three Lions contribute double figures in points, including sophomore Jack O'Connor (Newport, R.I.) with a career-best 24 points, junior Geoffrey Gray (Newton, Mass.) added 17 and sophomore Ben Holding (South Dartmouth, Mass.) put up 13 to lead the Lions to a 73-58 win over the neighboring Suffolk Rams to open up its home schedule on Tuesday night in non-conference men's basketball action.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- O'Connor, who paced Emerson's offense with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and one assist, finished 9-for-15 on the hardwood and 3-8 from beyond the three-point line.
- Gray joined O'Connor in double figures with 17 points, pulled down seven rebounds, had five assists and two steals going 4-for-11 from the field.
- Holding tallied 13 points coming off the bench and had a team-best four steals, while senior Michael Sheng (Altadena, Calif.) put up a double-double of 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
- Suffolk's Michael Hagopian led all scorers with 25 points and added five boards, while Thomas Duffy followed with eight points and three assists.
- Brandon Mulson had three rebounds while both he and Jim Djema each had two steals, who also had five assists, and Kevin Querusio blocked a pair of shots.
- Emerson drained 45.6% of its shots (26-for-57), banked 33.3% of field goals beyond the arc and registered 13-of-17 from the charity stripe (76.5%).
- Suffolk went 22-for-58 on the floor (37.9%), canned 33.3% of its triples and were 60% on the free throw line (6-10).
- The Lions beat the Rams on the glass (44-29) and edged out the visitors in assists (18-14), second chance points (11-9), points within the paint (28-22) and had 23 points off the bench to Suffolk's 16.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Shooting 40.6% through the first 20 minutes and holding Suffolk to making just 28.5% of its shots, Emerson entered the half with a commanding 34-19 advantage.
- With Suffolk holding the lead through the first eight minutes of the opening half, it was a trey from Sheng that kickstarted a 10-1 run by Emerson to push the Lions ahead by seven at 15-10 at 9:34.
- The Rams remained within striking distance at five (22-17) on a triple from George Grillakis, yet the Lions propelled their lead into double figures (27-17) thanks to Holding's triple falling through. at 4:34.
- Emerson continued to silence the Suffolk offense as the clock wound down as Sheng's final five points through the final 2:15 lifted the Lions to a 15-point cushion at 34-19.
- Starting at the 19:18 mark of the second frame, Suffolk used a pair of triples from Duffy and Querusio to erase Emerson's once dominant 15 point lead down to five (34-29) at 17:20.
- Suffolk got back to within single digits at nine (42-33) on a Querusio layup, but Emerson answered with the next eight of ten points, including seven points from O'Connor, to bump the Lions advantage back to 15 (50-35) at 12:14.
- Duffy sank a three at 10:23 and put the Rams deficit at 11 (52-41) as a pair of successful shots from Gray at the charity stripe surged an Emerson run of 9-0 with the margin at 20 points (61-41) with 6:40 to play.
- Emerson maintained a steady lead of 20 until the 1:16 mark as Hagopian put up Suffolk's last five scores to put the score at 73-58 with nine ticks on the clock.
- Cameron Power's attempted three point shot nicked the rim as the Lions captured the 73-58 win.
UP NEXT
- Emerson enters tournament play this upcoming Friday and Saturday, November 24-25 at the UMass Boston Harbor Invitational where they will face Bridgewater State on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
- Suffolk remains on the road and will meet Salve Regina on Sunday, November 26 in a 1:00 p.m. tip off.
STAY LIVE WITH THE LIONS
