Springfield, Mass. – February 21, 2026 – The Springfield College men's basketball team completed its regular season with a 72-58 win over New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Emerson College on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.

Springfield capped its regular season at 10-15 overall and 8-8 in NEWMAC play, while Emerson finished its year at 9-16, 5-11. The eight wins for Springfield in the conference this year marked the most for the Pride under head coach Michael McClendon. Springfield also secured the fifth seed in this year's NEWMAC Tournament and will travel to fourth-seeded Wheaton College on Tuesday at 7:00 pm.

Springfield was guided by a 12 point, 10 rebound double-double from Hunter Matteson (Dartmouth, Mass.), who played just 19 minutes for the Pride off the bench. Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) led Springfield with 14 points in addition to having seven rebounds and three assists, while Cedric Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) notched 11 points and Zander Robinson (East Hartford, Conn.) stuffed the stat sheet with ten points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Emerson was led by Giulio Volonte with ten points.

Springfield held Emerson without a field goal for the first 6:18 of the game and held an 8-1 edge following a layup in transition by Campbell before Roman Leararis notched the Lions' first bucket from the floor. A three point bucket by Evely off the hands of Matteson sparked a brief 9-2 spurt for the Pride eventually leading to a 12 point advantage (19-7) midway through the first. Three minutes later a pair of shots from the paint by Evely and Hartley made it a 14 point lead before an offensive rebound tip-in by Matteson gave Springfield its largest lead of the half of 15 points at 34-19. Emerson was able to climb as close as 11, but the Pride took a 39-26 lead into the break.

Springfield shot 50.0-percent from the floor in the first half (15-for-30) and knocked down eight of 12 attempt from the free throw line, while the Pride held Emerson to just ten made baskets (29.4-percent) over the opening 20 minutes.

Over the first nine minutes of the second, Emerson outscored Springfield 21-12 and eventually pulled within just four points after back-to-back baskets by Volonte. Over the run, Emerson also received five points from Hank Gramlich and four from Otto Luessenhop. Campbell buried a jumper from the paint to cut Emerson's run as five straight points from the Pride pushed Springfield back out by nine with nine minutes remaining. Leading 56-52, Robinson completed an and-one play on a driving layup to the hoop which ultimately led to a string of nine straight points for the Pride. Springfield went on to outscore Emerson, 16-6, over the final 7:14 of the game en route to the 72-58 win.

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