THE BASICS 

Score: Clark 84, Emerson 80

Records: Emerson Lions (12-9, 7-3 NEWMAC) ; Clark Cougars (13-8, 5-5 NEWMAC)

Location: Worcester, Mass. (Kneller Athletic Center)

Date: February 4, 2023

The Lead: The Emerson men's basketball team had four double-digit efforts, led by graduate Jarred Houston's 21 points, but the Lions were edged out by Clark, 84-80, on Saturday afternoon. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

EMERSON

Houston: 21 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks, one steal

James Beckwith: 18 points

Max Davis: 18 points

Brendan McNamara: 13 points, five assists, one steal

Trevor Arico: one steal

CLARK

Isaiah Taylor: 22 points, two steals

Kekoa McArdle: 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists

Bruce Saintilus: 19 points, nine rebounds

Reid Neumann: three blocks

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• After Houston put in Emerson's first basket, Beckwith went to work and singlehandedly dropped 11 points, which included three three's, to help Emerson build a 13-6 lead over Clark with four minutes gone in the first.
• Clark closed within one of Emerson on McArdle's free throw (15-14), yet Emerson capitalized on a Cougars' foul to kickstart a 6-0 run of their and pushed their lead up to five at 21-16 after McNamara drained a triple. 
• Arico saw his shot from three-point range fall through at 6:56 to keep Emerson in front by four at 31-27, but 23 seconds later, Clark responded and stretched a 10-0 from 6:33 to 5:22 to give themselves the six-point lead over the visitors at 37-31.
• Emerson continued to trail down the stretch until Davis dropped a clutch three-point bucket with three ticks left in the first and gave the Lions a one-point edge at the break, 45-44. 
• The lead flipped back-and-forth in the opening minutes of the second before Clark went on a 8-2 run to give the hosts the six-point margin (57-51). 
• Down four, Houston laid in a layup to start a lengthy 11-0 run that included five points from Davis and an additional four from Houston. Capped off by a layup from Davis, the boosted Emerson's lead back up to five at 62-57 with 13:12 on the clock.
• Emerson was able to maintain the five-point advantage before Taylor put in the equalizing three to put the score at 68-all. The Lions bumped their lead back up to three, but Cougars answered with an 10-0 run to put the visitors in a seven-point hole with 3:31 left in regulation (80-73).
• A clutch 6-0 run from 3:06 to 1:39 allowed Emerson to lock the score at 80-all after McNamara connected on a jumper. 
• McArdle put in the go-ahead layup with 1:19 to go before Clark took the game to the free throw stripe as Emerson slipped to the Cougars, 84-80. 

UP NEXT

• Emerson comes back to Boston on Wednesday, February 8th to close their season series with Coast Guard at 5:00 p.m.