THE BASICS 

Score: Babson 92, Emerson 77

Records: Emerson Lions (14-10, 7-6 NEWMAC) ; No. 22 Babson Beavers (20-4, 10-3 NEWMAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. (Brown & Plofker Gym) 

Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2020

The Lead: Three members of the Emerson men's basketball team banked double-digits in the points column, led by 24 points from sophomore Zach Waterhouse (Hampton, N.H.), but the Lions fell at the hands of Babson, 92-77, on Wednesday night. Prior to today's slate, head coach Bill Curley paid recognition to the Lions' pair of seniors, Jack O'Connor and Ben Holding, for their dedication and hard work over their four year careers. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

EMERSON

Points: Waterhouse (24), O'Connor (21) & Jarred Houston (13)
Rebounds: Houston (10)
Assists: Trevor McLean (5)
Steals: McLean (3)
Blocks: Houston (4)

BABSON

Points: Jack Coolahan (26), Colin Bradanese (14), Andrew Kirkpatrick (13) & Andrew Jaworski (11)
Rebounds: Coolahan (11)
Assists: Crew Ainge (4)
Steals: Aaron Gao (3)
Blocks: Gao (1)

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Early defensive stops by Emerson kept Babson off the board through the opening two minutes of the half and allowed the Lions to piece together a 7-0 spurt that was capped off on a triple by Waterhouse at 18:23. 
• Starting at the 15:55 mark, the Lions maintained a lead of eight until 12:52 when a pair of Houston free throws extended the host's advantage into double-figures at 10 (23-13). 
• The 10-point cushion Emerson held slowly started to disappear thanks to a 17-5 Babson streak that inched the Beavers within one (28-27) with 6:43 left in the frame.
• O'Connor nailed a three at 6:24 to give the Lions a three-point advantage (30-27), yet it was the final time in the frame where Emerson would hold a lead of more than three. 
• The final six minutes of the half would see three lead changes before Babson went up three on a layup from Bradanese at 1:35 with the Lions entered halftime down three by the score of 40-37. 
• Emerson continued to trail through the opening four minutes and fell back by as much as eight, Babson's biggest lead of the game at the time, after Coolahan sank another trifecta at 16:06 (52-44).
• The Lions inched within three of the Beavers on two occasions, once at 12:41 after a three-point bucket from McLean and again at 10:14 on a layup by Waterhouse, but Babson was able to extend its margin into double-figures starting at 9:05.
• The closest Emerson would come to within Babson was 12 at 4:37 after a triple from junior Jack Healy and a trey by Waterhouse (77-65). 
• Emerson continued to claw its way back into the game, but it was Babson who used the free throw line through the final 1:27 of regulation to seal the Lions' 92-77 setback. 

UP NEXT

• Emerson wraps its regular season schedule on Saturday, February 22 down at Coast Guard at 1:00 p.m.
• Babson closes its 2019-2020 campaign on Saturday as well at Springfield with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off.