Looking at the Emerson men’s basketball schedule, fans will find the usual slate of opponents: Babson, Clark, WPI, and more. And while their non-conference tune-up games feature other schools around New England, the team has added one opponent no one expected them to face.
The 1-0 Lions will take on the Yale Bulldogs in an exhibition game at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Conn. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. These are the same Yale Bulldogs that won last year’s Ivy League championship against Brown on a buzzer-beater, and the same ones that, as a no. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament, stunned no. 6 Auburn in a bracket-busting matchup.
Junior forward/center Asher Gardiner says the team learned of the matchup through a summertime text from head coach Bill Curley.
“It would have been fun to play in a Yale home opener, but we got their second game of the season, so it should be fun to play against them at their place,” Gardiner said.
Curley says his team has tried to play a Div. I exhibition game nearly every year he has led the team, except for his first year at the helm in 2013. The team’s last test against a Div. I opponent came on Dec. 31, 2023, when they fell to UMass Lowell 116-48. Other past opponents include Boston University (2018), Brown University (2016), and Bryant University (2015).
“Well, we played a ton of division 1 teams, and … it’s good for our guys to see that speed,” Curley added. “Everything we try to do when we make our schedule is to try to prepare us for the NEWMAC, because we think the NEWMAC is such a great league and competitive league.”
Exhibition games against Div. I programs are common throughout men’s and women’s Div. II and Div. III collegiate basketball. NCAA rules state, “Men’s and women’s basketball teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams.”
Though most would probably view a D3 vs. D1 matchup going poorly for the lower-division team, associate head coach Sean Coman looks at the game with some optimism, saying they provide a lot of learning opportunities early in the season.
“You learn a lot about your team and holes that get shown with lack of athleticism and how to really execute at a high level to overcome some of those size and athleticism [problems],” Coman said. “You gotta kind of throw the kitchen sink at them sometimes to see what sticks and what works.”
“You learn a little bit about your team, you learn a little bit about what you’re made of,” he added. “And coaching-wise, you learn if you have any tricks up your sleeve to hopefully try and help your guys out in an overmatched battle, David versus Goliath.”
Gardiner also noted key differences between playing fellow Div. III schools and top Div. I opponents, which—contrary to popular belief—isn’t just about skill.
“I feel like skill-wise, you match up,” Gardiner said. “It’s just the height and the athleticism that’s always a big factor. But, looking at Yale, we seem to match up height-wise against them, so I think it should be fun to see what we can do against them.”
Curley, a 6’9” forward who spent four years at Boston College before embarking on a seven-year stint in the NBA, highlighted the differences between playing against and coaching against Div. I opponents. Among them is the ability for Div. I athletes to practice over the summer instead of the previous NCAA mandate of starting on Oct. 15.
“A lot easier playing,” he joked. “I [had] a little bit more control when [I was] playing … [Current Div. I athletes are] able to practice all summer long … So they’re clearly ahead of us. For us, it’s good to play somebody that’s gonna be bigger, stronger, faster, and that’s not in our huddle, doesn’t know our plays.”
Senior sports communications student and Emerson Channel Sports director Evan Sharrard offered his perspective on the Emerson-Yale matchup as both a commentator and college basketball fan.
“They usually will call [D3 vs. D1 matchups] ‘bodybag games,’ where you expect the Div. III team to get absolutely crushed,” Sharrard said. “[However,] not only is it [a] great experience for D3 players to get—because they’re playing players who are playing the best every single day and to play the best, that’s how you get better always—but for these D1 schools as well, they’re giving that publicity to that D3 school.”
“I think it’s just a really good opportunity, to be in an atmosphere that changes things up,” he added. “And to experience either some adversity or an incredible jolt of confidence, especially if there’s an upset there.”
Though uncommon, it’s not entirely unheard of for a D3 team to come out on top in an exhibition game. The last Div. III school to upset a Div. I opponent was the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB), who beat Texas State on Dec. 13, 2022. Other recent examples include Salisbury beating Delaware State (2021), UMass Boston defeating Holy Cross (2019), and Southwestern Baptist University prevailing over Utah (2008).
Sharrard added that Emerson and Yale share similarities when competing in their respective divisions.
“Emerson’s a scrappy team that usually likes to play like an underdog,” Sharrard explained. “So Yale, in division 1, is the same way … [In the Ivy League and NCAA tournaments], Yale pulled off some upsets and hit some big-time shots late in games, threes in the corners, buzzer beaters. And I think that both of these teams are really similar at their division levels respectively. So to see two teams with, I think, fairly similar play styles play against each other should be really exciting to see.”
Curley and the team look forward to the high-profile matchup after weeks of practice.
“Our guys are sick of seeing each other right now,” he joked. “We need some fresh meat, and unfortunately, we’re gonna be the meat there. But, again, it’s such a great experience. And we just wanna make it competitive so we can give [Auburn graduate assistant] Geoff Gray ‘19 a little bit of a hard time since Yale beat them last year in the tournament.”
He also set a threshold of what constitutes a successful matchup for the Lions against the Bulldogs.
“The way I’d like to look at it is, if we can keep it within 20, we win, if they beat us by 30 or 40 … it’s kind of a draw, and if they get us by 40, they win,” Curley said. “And then [if] they beat us by more than that, and I don’t think anyone really wins.”
