Box Score THE BASICS
Score: Emerson 83, Wheaton (Mass.) 78
Records: Emerson Lions (7-18, 3-11 NEWMAC); Wheaton (Mass.) Lyons (10-15, 5-9 NEWMAC)
Location: Boston, Mass. (Regan Gymnasium @ Suffolk University)
Date: February 18, 2017
The Lead: Led by a 22-point performance from sophomore Geoffrey Gray (Newton, Mass.), the Emerson men's basketball team ended its 2017 campaign on a winning note and grabbed the 83-78 NEWMAC victory over the visiting Wheaton (Mass.) on Saturday afternoon at Regan Gymnasium. Prior to today's contest, the Lions honored its two seniors, Jared Kortsen (Dublin, Ohio) and Bilal Rabbani (Burlington, Mass.) for their dedication to the men's basketball program throughout their collegiate careers.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Gray led the Emerson offense with 22 points to finish 7-for-10 on the floor, 2-for-3 beyond the arc and 6-for-8 on the charity stripe to match eight rebounds, five assists and one steal.
- Junior Michael Sheng (Altadean, Calif.) racked up an overall game-best 10 assists to go along with 17 points, eight rebounds and a steal.
- Freshman Kent Ellertson (Sudbury, Mass.) chipped in 13 points with two rebounds, one assists and finished 5-for-8 from the field.
- Wheaton (Mass.) had four of five starters put up double-figures in points with Quinton Dale putting up a team-high 15 points to match seven rebounds and four assists.
- Alex DuBrow followed with 11 points and co-led with Dale and Liam Bruno with four assists
- Timothy Berry and Ryan Fogarty tallied 10 points a piece, while Nick Geremia added 11 points off the bench with five rebounds and three assists.
- Emerson beat Wheaton (Mass.) in field goals (56.9%-42.2%), behind the three-point line (50.0% and 36.8%) and on the charity line (68.2%-47.6%).
- The Lions also outdid the Lyons on the glass (37-31), in the paint (28-20) and saw its bench put up 47 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- At 19:10 of the first half, Wheaton (Mass.) were up front by four after back-to-back shots by DuBrow and Dale, yet it was the biggest lead they would hold over Emerson through the remainder of the game.
- Sheng drained a triple that sparked five more points from the Lions and was capped off by a three by freshman Alex Mrusek (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) to push their lead to 11-8.
- Emerson held Wheaton scoreless and used a 13-0 push to balloon its lead into double digits at 12 (27-15) on a trey from Gray at 6:36 of the half.
- Wheaton made 30% of its first half shots and were held to 11 points within the closing minutes, which allowed Emerson to surge to an 18-point lead of 44-26 to conclude the first 20 minutes.
- A trey from sophomore Mac Sashin (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) lifted the Lions to its largest lead of 20 at 46-26 at 19:45 of the second half.
- Wheaton embarked on an 8-0 run at 13:14 that included two triples by David Carbonello and Dale brought the Lyons within single digits at 54-45.
- The Lyons continued its comeback in the later minutes of the half and cut the Lions once dominant lead all the way down to four on a three by Dale to put the score at 74-70 with 1:28 to play.
- Emerson kept Wheaton within distance and upped its lead to 10 (82-72) for a pair of free throws by junior John Geary (Duxbury, Mass.) put Wheaton away despite two late three's by Carbonello and Geremia.
UP NEXT
- Emerson's 2016-2017 season has concluded.
- Wheaton (Mass.) continues its season on Wednesday, February 22 and enters the 2017 NEWMAC Men's Basketball Championship bracket at the No. 5 seed and will face off against No. 4 Springfield in a time to be announced later.
STAY LIVE WITH THE LIONS
