THE BASICS 

Score: Emerson 97, MIT 88

Records: Emerson Lions (16-6, 9-4 NEWMAC) ; MIT Engineers (12-10, 5-8 NEWMAC) 

Location: Boston, Mass (Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym)

Date: February 16, 2022

The Lead: Powered by four double-digits showings from seniors Zach Waterhouse, Chad DiCenzo and Jarred Houston and junior Max Davis, the Emerson men's basketball team picked up its third straight win in a 97-88 victory over MIT on Wednesday night at Brown & Plofker Gym. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON 

Houston: 24 points, 17 rebounds, two steals & seven blocks
Waterhouse: 20 points & two steals
Davis: 15 points
DiCenzo: 14 points
Nate Martin: two steals
James Beckwith: four assists

MIT

Alex Cho: 19 points
Ian Hinkley: 15 points
Kade Killeen: 13 points
Dan Pilsbury: 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists & three steals

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In a first half that saw Emerson propel to a 20-plus lead over MIT, the Lions converted 52.9% from the hardwood to come away with the 50-31 edge over the Engineers. 
• The first and only time Emerson trailed was after Cho and Pilsbury put up the first five MIT points to give the visitors the brief 5-2 lead. With the help of Houston's layup and a triple from DiCenzo, the Lion claimed the lead at 7-5 and never looked back.
• Over the next several minutes, starting at 15:20,  Emerson connected on their next eight baskets to up their lead into double figures at 15 at 22-7. 
• Cho completed a trip to the free throw stripe at 9:18 to pull within 14 of Emerson, which would be the closest the Engineers would come to even reaching the Lions. 
• Emerson continued to overwhelm MIT throughout the midst of the frame and first saw their advantage balloon into the 20's after Waterhouse put down a dunk with 8:06 to go. 
• As the first half wound down, the Lions maintained a lead of at least 20 as a layup from Waterhouse at 1:12 sent the hosts into the locker room with a 50-31 lead over MIT. 
• Out the gate of the second half, Houston sent up a layup at 19:09 to kickstart a 19-10 run that gave Emerson their largest lead at 28 as Davis' trey put the score at 71-43.
• With the score set at 77-52, MIT, who shot 68.8% on the arc, used the perimeter to creep back into the game. Starting with a back-to-back triples by Killeen at 10:42, the Engineers pieced together a 19-8 streak that pushed the visitors back within 14 at the 5:33 mark. 
• Waterhouse connected on a pair of buckets to cease MIT's scoring momentum with the score at 89-71. Another dunk from Waterhouse at 3:03 bolstered Emerson's lead back into the 20 range at 95-74. 
• Down the stretch, MIT continued to battle back and used the final 2:16 of regulation to drop an 11-2 run as the score now sat at 97-88. Neither team attempted another basket through the final 16 ticks of regulation as Emerson took the 97-88 victory. 

UP NEXT

• Emerson wraps up the 2022 regular season on Saturday, February 19th as the Lions play host to the Lyons of Wheaton (Mass.) at 2:00 p.m.