CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (January 13, 2026) – Emerson College saw 12 different players score in a balanced offensive effort to secure a 78-63 victory over Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference matchup at Rockwell Cage this evening.
Junior Brendan Taylor paced Emerson's balanced output with a career-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-for-6 from three-point range, in 13 minutes off the bench. He paced a Lions bench that outscored the MIT reserves 45-24 for the night as 12 different players, including all that played more than two minutes, found the scoring column as the visitors buried 12-of-21 (57.1-percent) three-pointers for the night.
Senior Linus Helmhold was the only other Emerson player in double figures with ten points and a team-high eight rebounds, while junior Guillermo Gasset Ruiz chipped in eight points, seven boards, two steals and two blocked shots for the Lions.
Junior Merlin Gogolin led three from MIT in double figures with a double-double off the bench, finishing with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds (seven offensive). Senior Rome Delgado-Gonzalez added 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot, while classmate Parker Spann rounded out the Engineers in double figures with 11 points, four boards and two assists.
Emerson shook off a slow start on the offensive end by riding a trio of three pointers from three different players to fuel a 14-2 run that turned a five point deficit (11-6) six minutes into the game into a seven point cushion (20-13) after a layup from postgrad Otto Luessenhop with eight minutes remaining in the first half. MIT pulled back within a pair twice over the next two minutes, but Emerson stretched its lead back to nine (32-23) after a three-point play from Taylor who scored ten of the Lions 12 points over a three-minute span.
Emerson settled for a seven point halftime lead (35-28), but MIT scored the first five points of the second half in the opening minute to draw back within two (35-33) after a three-pointer from junior Michael Zhang sparked a Lions timeout. Emerson did not buckle and kept MIT at arm's length until an 11-2 Lions run, sparked by a three-pointer from sophomore Roman Leraris, opened a 12-point advantage (53-41) with 11:51 remaining.
MIT drew back within seven (53-46) less than a minute later after a three-point play by Spann. The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes before Emerson sealed the win with a 16-4 run, sparked by four Taylor triples, which stretched the lead to 19 (75-56) after a turnaround jumper from Gasset Ruiz with 2:46 on the clock.
Noteworthy
- Taylor doubled his previous career-high scoring night against Salem State to open the year with his 22-point outing marking his second career double-figure scoring game.
- Helmhold scored in double digits for the ninth time this season (27th career), leading the Lions in rebounding for the ninth game.
- In addition to its 12 scorers, Emerson had seven different players connect from beyond the three-point arc, led by Taylor's five.
- Emerson turned the ball over just nine times – two on shot clock violations.
- Emerson improved to 7-2 this season when shooting 40-percent from the floor or better, finishing tonight at 43.3-percent from the floor, including 53.8% in the second half to pull away.
- The Lions connected on 7-of-9 threes in the second half, including 4-for-4 by Taylor during the game clinching stretch, to lead their 12-for-21 (57.1%) shooting from long range.
- Emerson improved to 5-1 this season on the road.
- Senior Jacob Armant made his 40th career start – all consecutive – for Emerson.
Up Next
Emerson (7-6, 3-1 NEWMAC) is right back in action on Thursday night when it continues a three-game week by hosting Clark University for a NEWMAC clash on Hank Smith Court at 7 p.m. MIT (5-8, 1-3 NEWMAC) visits Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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