THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 89, Salem State 86 

Records: Emerson Lions (5-3) ; Salem State Vikings (3-7)

Location: Salem, Mass. (Twohig Gymnasium)

Date: December 6, 2022

The Lead: Despite a late three-pointer from Salem State, graduate Jarred Houston, senior James Beckwith and graduates Nate Martin and Sean Coman paced the Emerson men's basketball team in the scoring column to help the Lions hold off the Vikings, 89-86, on Tuesday night. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Houston: 33 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks

Beckwith: 18 points, seven assists

Martin: 17 points

Coman: 11 points

SALEM STATE

Josiah Green: 16 points, two steals

Jaden Castillo: 16 points, four assists, two blocks

Chris MacDonald: 15 points

Juvens Louis: 13 points

Jarret Byrne: 12 points, seven rebounds

Conner Byrne: 10 points

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Through the first 12 minutes of the first half, five ties had occurred before Emerson started to pull away from the hosts. 
• With the score locked at 23-all after MacDonald's jumper fell through, a triple from Coman at 7:52 began a 7-2 stretch that gave the Lions their biggest lead at 30-25 with 5:45 on the clock.
• Green connected on a bucket to pull the Vikings within three before there was two minute scoring lull. At 3:25, however, Louis used the long ball to break the scoreless run and level the score once again at 30-all. 
• Coman followed with a three of his own on Emerson's next possession to lift the Lions back up by three at 33-30 before another trifecta from the Vikings evened the score once more at 35-all. 
• With 1:13 left on the clock, another long ball from Coman followed by six points from Houston helped fend off the Vikings and hold on to the 44-40 lead at the break.
• Emerson continued to keep themselves in front to start off the second half and knocked down their first pair of baskets to maintain a lead of six at 48-42. 
• Through the midst of the half, Emerson was able to keep Salem State within six before they bumped the margin up to eight, the Lions' biggest lead of the game. Behind a layup from Martin at 11:18, the score now sat at 66-58. 
• Despite the layup from Houston that kept Emerson's lead at eight, Salem State capitalized on two missed shots and outscored the Lions, 8-4, from 11:36 to 9:54, to chip the visitor's lead down to four at 68-64.
• Back-to-back triples from Beckwith bolstered Emerson's lead back up to six with 6:39 on the clock, but not before Louis knocked down another long ball to inch the Vikings within one at 78-77.
• Louis knocked down the game-tying triple to put the score at 82-all and forced Emerson to take the 30 second timeout. After the quick timeout, Emerson regrouped and took to the free-throw stripe three times to give themselves the 89-82 lead at the 1:01 mark.
• With 51 ticks in regulation, Green turned a missed free throw into a three-point bucket and gave Salem State life as Emerson's cushion dwindled to three at 89-86.
• The Vikings were unable to get another shot off after closing within three as a last second turnover by Louis helped preserve the Lions' three-point victory. 

UP NEXT

• Emerson takes a short break before they venture down to Florida to take part in the Steven Moore Sunshine Classic on December 19th in a slate against Wooster at 3:00 p.m.