Springfield, Mass. - January 15, 2020 - In a rematch of last year's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Semifnal, the Springfield College men's basketball team was edged by Emerson, 74-70, in Brown & Plfoker Gym.

The win boosts Emerson's record to 10-5, 3-1, while Springfield, who was 19th in the most recent D3hoops.com National Poll, slipped to 12-3, 3-1. 

Jack O'Connor led all players with 21 points for the hosts as he also snagged 10 rebounds.  Jarred Houston was impressive inside, totaling 18 points and nine rebounds and James Beckwith dripped all five of his three-point attempts en route to 17 points. The hosts shot 50% from the floor in the game, connecting on 28-of-56 field goal attempts and they held a 30-10 edge in points in the paint.

Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) paced Springfield with 19 points, nine boards, and three assists, while Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.) added 14 points and Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) chipped in 13.  Despite shooting just 19-for-57 for the game and 10-for-28 from beyond the arc, Springfield was able to stay in the line by getting to the line 28 times, knocking down 22 of their attempts.

After surrendering the opening basket, Springfield scored the next 10 points behind a three point play from Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) to bring the score to 10-2 at 13:49 before Post drilled a jumper a minute later to give the visitors a double-digit cushion. Beckwith connected on his first three pointer with 12 minutes remaining in the first half to cut the Springfield lead to five, and connected on his second with nine minutes remaining to give Emerson their first lead since the opening minute at 16-15.  Springfield responded with a 9-0 run to take a 24-16 lead, but an O'Connor and two Beckwith three pointers cut the Springfield lead to two, but Springfield would own a 32-31 edge at the halftime break. 

For the first ten minutes of the second half, the Lions and Pride traded baskets and found themselves knotted at 50 before Springfield rattled off a 10-4 run to take a 60-54 lead with seven minutes remaining following a triple from Costa.  O'Connor responded by scoring eight straight points for the Lions to cut Springfield's lead to five with five minutes left on the clock, but Springfield maintained a 67-64 advantage with 2:32 left in regulation after two freebies from Ross. However, Houston finished a layup before O'Connor connected on a three pointer and then stole the ball and finished through contact with 48 ticks remaining on the clock to give Emerson a late four point lead. Witter connected on a three pointer with 15 seconds remaining, but Trevor McLean and Beckwith connected on their free throws to ice the game for the Lions. 

Springfield will continues its three-game road swing as it heads to MIT next Wednesday for an 8 pm conference clash. 

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