BOSTON, Mass. (November 17, 2025) – Emerson College junior guard Guillermo Gasset Ruiz has been named the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Defensive Athlete of the Week, presented by SKYBOKX 109, for men's basketball the Conference office announced this morning.
Gasset Ruiz earns the weekly recognition from the NEWMAC for the first time after averaging 2.3 steals and 2.0 blocked shots per game over Emerson's first three games of the season, while contributing 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 points per contest, making 7-of-10 shots from the floor for the week. He led a Lions team that held its three opponents to 35.4-percent shooting from three-point range for the week.
Gasset Ruiz opened the season by collecting a game-high nine rebounds in Tuesday's matchup with Salem State University, adding seven assists, six points, two steals and two blocked shots. He followed that up with seven points, connecting on all three shots he took with a three-pointer, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in Friday night's 71-67 win over Western Connecticut State University. Gasset Ruiz capped the week with two blocked shots and two steals against Connecticut College on Sunday.
Gasset Ruiz ranks fourth among NEWMAC leaders with his 2.3 steals and 2.0 blocked shots per game after the opening week of the season. He also ranks third in assists per game (4.0) and 18th in rebounding (6.0).
Gasset Ruiz earned a spot on the NEWMAC Academic All-Conference team in 2024-25 and has started 56 of the 57 games he has played over his Emerson career. He has totaled 449 points as a 49.1-percent shooter over his career, including 40.6% from three-point distance, converting 79.6% of his free-throws and totaling 318 rebounds, 140 assists, 82 steals and 47 blocked shots.
Emerson (1-2, 0-0 NEWMAC) returns to action for its lone game of the week on Thursday when it faces No. 4-ranked Tufts University in a game that will now be played at Suffolk University's Smith and Smith Center at 7:30 p.m. The Lions next home game is on Saturday, December 6, when it hosts Wheaton College for a NEWMAC matchup on Hank Smith Court at 1 p.m.
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