Springfield, Mass. – February 10, 2024 – The Springfield College men's basketball team fell to Emerson College, 70-59, on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tilt.

Emerson improved to 10-13 and 6-8 in the NEWMAC, while Springfield fell to 7-16, 4-10.

Sophomore Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) paced Springfield's offense with 15 points, while classmate John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) notched seven points and ten boards in addition to six assists. All ten student-athletes who appeared in the game for Springfield registered at least two points, while eight of ten posted at least two rebounds. Trevor Arico led Emerson with 15 points on the afternoon.

Springfield scored the first seven points of today's contest as graduate student Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) and Evely both tallied layups in between a trey from junior Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.). The score remained in Springfield's favor until there was 11:25 left in the first half when Arico buried a three pointer to even the score at 17-17. First-year Yuki Ishibashi (Chiba, Japan) quickly answered with a three of his own to regain the lead for the Pride sparking a brief 7-0 run as Springfield held a 24-17 edge midway through the stanza.

Emerson once again answered with a 7-0 run of its own to even the score at 24-24 following a three from Guillermo Gassett Ruiz and four minutes later, the Lions took a 31-30 lead after a free throw from Brendan McNamara. Emerson closed the first by scoring six of the half's final seven points as the visitors took a 36-31 lead into the break.

Both teams traded buckets to open the second, but Emerson maintained its advantage for the entirety of the stanza en route to the 70-59 final. The Pride pulled within two points at 47-45 with 9:29 left on the clock following a three by senior Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) and within three with 2:40 to play following a turnaround jumper by Blische. It was Emerson who answered as every time that Springfield got within one possession, the Lions went on a run to pull away from the Pride. A layup by Gardiner with 1:33 left secured the win for Emerson as the Lions knocked down five free throws before McNamara hit a layup to end the game.

Springfield will play its final road contest of the 2023-24 season at WPI Wednesday, February 14 at 7:00 pm.

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.