NEW LONDON, Conn. (December 3, 2025) – Emerson College buried 14 three-pointers, connecting at 60-percent in the first half in building a 30-point halftime lead and didn't look back in rolling to a 96-71 victory over the United States Coast Guard Academy in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball opener for both at Roland Gym this evening.

Senior Jacob Armant and junior Shay Roban each recorded career-high scoring nights and combined for 49 points to lead four from Emerson in double-figures in the win. Each netted 17 first half points as the Lions shot 60.6-percent from the floor (20-for-33), including 9-for-15 (60%) from three-point range, in scouting out a 30-point (57-27) halftime lead they would not relinquish.

Armant finished with a career-high 29 points to lead all scorers on 10-of-14 shooting, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, with five assists, two rebounds and three steals. Roban buried 5-of-8 threes as part of 7-of-11 shooting overall for his career-best 20 points in 19-minutes off the bench for Emerson with two offensive rebounds. Sophomore Giulio Volonte scored in double-figures for the first time in his career with a career-high 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting off the bench with eight rebounds, while senior Brendan McNamara rounded out the Lions in double figures with a season-best ten points, four assists and two boards.

Roban scored 17 of his career-high 20 points in the first half to help the Lions to a win in their NEWMAC opener (PHOTO BY Kelly Chen, '25/Emerson College)

Senior Luke Farrell led three from Coast Guard in double figures with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting, converting 8-of-10 free-throws off the bench, with two rebounds. Senior Trevor Parks added 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while classmate Elijah Parent chipped in 11 points and four boards for the Bears.

Emerson reeled off 26-straight points to turn a one possession game (13-10) five minutes into the contest into a 29-point lead (39-10) after a free-throw from postgrad Asher Gardiner with 9:12 remaining in the first half. Junior Guillermo Gasset Ruiz sparked the Lions run with a three-pointer – their first of three during the run, including back-to-back Roban triples.

Roban buried consecutive threes with less than three minutes remaining in the half that stretched the Emerson lead to 32 (55-23) before the Lions settled for the 30-point (57-27) halftime cushion.

Parks connected on back-to-back threes for Coast Guard to start the second half and the Bears were able to whittle the lead down to 18 (67-49) with another Parks three with 12:39 to play. Coast Guard's rally trimmed the deficit to 17 (71-54) after a Parent three with 9:34 remaining, but the comeback effort stalled there and Emerson was able to push the lead back to 24 (79-55) with a pair of free-throws by senior Linus Helmhold with seven minutes remaining and the lead didn't dip inside 20 the rest of the way.

Noteworthy

• Armant scored in double figures for the fifth game this year with his first official 20-point outing of the year (fourth career), leading Emerson in scoring for the 11^th time in his career.
• Roban, who netted 21 points with five three-pointers in Saturday's exhibition at UMass Lowell, secured the first official 20-point game of his collegiate career just four days later, marking his sixth career double-figure scoring game, canning three-plus three-pointers for the fourth time.
• Volonte and Roban combined for 34 of Emerson's 43 bench points.
• McNamara reached double figures for the 30^th time in his Emerson career.
• Helmhold pulled down a team-high nine rebounds for the Lions, who finished with a 42-34 rebounding edge.
• Emerson finished shooting 58.1% from the field overall, including 14-for-26 (53.8%) from three-point distance.

Up Next
Emerson (3-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) is back in action on Saturday, when it returns to Boylston Street to host Wheaton College for a NEWMAC matchup on Hank Smith Court at Bobbi Brown and Stephen Plofker Gymnasium at 1 p.m., as part of a double-header with the Emerson women, who host Framingham State University at 3:30 p.m. Coast Guard (3-2, 0-1 NEWMAC) visits Merchant Marine Academy for the Superintendent's Trophy on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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