WORCESTER, Mass.- The No. 4 seed Emerson College men's basketball team absorbed a 93-73 loss at top-seeded and nationally-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinals Thursday night.
THE BASICS:
Score: Emerson 73, No. 14 WPI 93
Records: Lions (13-14) | Engineers (24-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Emerson used a strong start to construct a 14-2 lead with 14:29 remaining in the first half.
- The Lions stretch their advantage to 15 points with 7:02 left to play in the opening frame on a bucket by Linus Helmhold (Krefeld, Germany), 29-14.
- WPI battled back to level the game at 35-35 with 1:12 to go in the first period before Emerson snagged a 37-35 halftime lead on a last-second layup by Giulio Volonte (Milan, Italy).
- The home side captured a 60-50 advantage with 11:49 remaining in regulation.
- Emerson clawed back to cut the deficit to 70-66 as Giulio Volonte (Milan, Italy) splashed a trey with 4:28 on the clock.
- The Engineers converted 16-of-20 free throw attempts in the final four minutes to claim their 16th-consecutive win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Trevor Arico (Saline, Mich.) netted a team-high 17 points to finish his collegiate career with 977 points.
- Linus Helmhold (Krefeld, Germany) posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists.
- Jacob Armant (Arlington, Texas) chipped in with 11 points.
- Giulio Volonte (Milan, Italy) scored nine points off the bench.
- Emerson shot 41.3% from the floor and connected on 8-of-22 from the perimeter.
- WPI posted a field-goal percentage of 51.7% to go with 47.8% shooting from beyond the arc.
- Aidan Callahan poured in a game-high 26 points to lead the Engineers who had five players finish in double-figure scoring.
NEWMAC CHAMPIONSHIP SET:
With Thursday's results, top-seeded WPI will host second-seeded Clark in the NEWMAC Tournament championship contest March 1.
