Springfield, Mass. - January 25, 2023 - The Springfield College men's basketball team put forth a gritty effort was out outlasted by visiting Emerson, 74-66, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) showdown on Wednesday night.

The win boosted Emerson's record to 11-7, 6-1 in conference action, while the Pride fell to 5-13, 2-5.

Curtiss Blische (Barkhamstad, Conn.) put together an efficient outing in the paint as he notched 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting to go along with 11 boards in just 17 minutes of action.  John Paulino (Bedford, Mass.) registered 10 points and seven caroms, while Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) gave Springfield a spark off the bench with nine rebounds and seven points. 

Jarred Houston was an issue inside all day for Emerson as he recorded 21 points and 17 rebounds to lead four players in double figures. Max Davis finished with 18 points and drilled four of the visitors nine three-pointers, Nate Martin chipped in 12 points, and Brendan McNamara added 11 points. 

Blische finished an offensive rebound inside at the 15:22 mark to give Springfield an early 11-6 lead, only to have the visitors respond with a 12-0 burst over the next three-plus minutes to extend their advantange to 18-11 following a triple by Sean Coman. The Lions lead would grow to 23-14 at the 10:35 mark when Asher Gardiner converted down low, but Springifeld would answer with an 8-0 run, capped off by pair from the line by Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) to make it a one-point game with just over seven minutes remaining in the first. Martin canned a corner three inside the final two minutes of the frame as part of a 13-5 surge for the visitors to make it an 36-28 cushion, and the Lionis would take a five-point lead into the half following a trifecta from Andrew Rocci (Plymouth, Mass.) in the waning seconds. 

Springfield was much more aggressive to start the second half and put together a 9-3 run to begin the frame and snagged a 40-38 on a Paulino finish at the rim just under three minutes in. An off-balance jumper by Nick Bray (Hartford, Conn.) with 9:41 on the clock pushed Springfield's lead to 55-50,  but the Pride would go scoreless for nearly four minutes and Emerson made the most of the draught with 10 unanswered points to regain a 60-55 edge on a Davis bucket. Springfield would battle back to make it a one-score game five times, the last coming on a Blische jumper at 2:31 to make it a 69-66 ballgame.  After getting a stop on the defensive end, Springfield's next attempt was halfway down and rimmed out, and Emerson would go on to knock down 5-of-6 from the stripe to pull out the conference win. 

Springfield will remain at home this weekend when it hosts nationally-ranked WPI at 3:00 pm. 

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