Box Score THE BASICS
Score: Emerson 97, Clark 93
Records: Emerson Lions (8-5, 2-0 NEWMAC) ; Clark Cougars (3-10, 0-2 NEWMAC)
Location: Worcester, Mass. (Kneller Athletic Center)
Date: Saturday, January 6, 2018
The Lead: Sophomore Ben Holding (South Dartmouth, Mass.) contributed a season-best 22 points and three more Lions added double-figures for the Emerson men's basketball team as the Purple battled the Clark Cougars on Saturday afternoon in Worcester to a 97-93 triumph.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Holding anchored the Lions offense with a team and season-best 22 points with junior Geoffrey Gray (Newton, Mass.) putting up a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds.
- Sophomore Jack O'Connor (Newport, R.I.) and senior John Geary (Duxbury, Mass.) also canned double digits with O'Connor tallying 17 and Geary following with 16.
- Biko Gayman paced all scorers with 28 points for Clark, while Luca McCormick contributed 19 points and Tyler Davern added 15 of his own.
- Both John Pisacreta and McCormick collected five boards apiece as Gayman added seven rebounds and team-high three steals to his stat line.
- Emerson concluded the afternoon with a field goal percentage of 53.8% as Clark finished converting 46.6% of its shots from the floor.
- The Lions also tallied 13-of-21 from the free throw line (61.9%), while the Cougars shot 86.7%(13-15).
- Emerson beat Clark on the glass, 45-28.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Clark powered out a 6-0 lead to start off the opening half backed by four points coming from McCormick and two from Gayman.
- Emerson responded with a triple of its own from the hands of Geary as Davern hit a long range basket for Clark to put the hosts back up by six (9-3) with 17:15 to play.
- The Cougars led by as many as eight and maintained the lead until the 12:08 mark when both senior Michael Sheng (Altadena, Calif.) and Geary's pair of three's highlighted a 6-0 run that put Emerson up 20-19.
- With 29 ticks on the clock in the first half, Clark's Anthony Grzembski tallied the triple that pushed the Cougar's ahead by 10.
- Geary answered with a shot from downtown in the final seconds of the half as Emerson entered halftime down 56-49.
- A three point basket from Gayman helped Clark maintain its eight-point cushion at 19:35 before the Cougars upped its lead to 11 thanks a free throw from McCormick at 17:49.
- After Gray drained a triple at 15:40, senior Corey Fitz (Los Altos, Calif.) converted another three to help Emerson gain new found life to make it a one possession game at three (64-61) with 13:38 to play.
- Holding and O'Connor each had three pointers fall through at 12:10 to give Emerson the advantage back at 67-66 and added an additional seven points over the next two minutes to claim a 74-66 edge.
- Clark was not going down quietly and powered back to within a pair after Gayman and Kyle Coughlin knocked down consecutive three's (86-81).
Two was the closest the hosts were able to chop the deficit to as Emerson fended off Clark for the 97-93 win.
UP NEXT
- Emerson continues its NEWMAC road slate and travels across town to MIT on Wednesday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m.
- Clark also hits the road on Wednesday and heads off to Springfield for a 12:00 p.m. tip-off.
STAY LIVE WITH THE LIONS
