Following a dominant win over Springfield College in the first round of the NEWMAC playoffs, the Emerson men’s basketball team advanced to their second conference semifinals in three years, traveling to Worcester to face the nationally-ranked WPI Engineers, who earned the top seed in the playoffs. Despite a strong start in the first half, the Lions fell to the Engineers, 93-73.
The Lions sprung out to an early 10-2 lead thanks to back-to-back threes by juniors Jacob Armant and Linus Helmhold. Buckets by Helmhold and sophomore guard Guillermo Gasset Ruiz put Emerson up 14-2 six minutes in. Even as the Engineers began to close the gap, the Lions maintained their lead.
Graduate guard Trevor Arico buried a three with 7:27 left, putting Emerson up 27-14. Just as the Lions started cruising, WPI mounted a first-half comeback. An Engineer jumper brought the deficit to eight with 5:30 remaining. They then drilled a three at the five-minute mark to make it a 29-24 ball game. The Lions continued to score at the rim with layups from Helmhold, Arico and senior center Asher Gardiner, though the Engineers were close behind. A WPI three tied the game at 35 with over a minute remaining. First-year forward Giulio Volonte hit a layup just before the buzzer, sending Emerson into the break with a 37-35 advantage.
Both teams soon got hot from the perimeter, as Brenner and the Engineers traded threes in the period’s first three possessions. Sophomore guard Guillermo Gasset Ruiz got a steal and layup with 17:16 to go, Emerson leading 42-41. WPI cashed a three on their next trip down, the start of an offensive clinic by the Engineers. Though Brenner’s free throws tied the game at 44, the Engineers regained the lead on a layup. A three by WPI extended the deficit to six, 51-45, with 15:36 remaining. Helmhold’s two-handed dunk got the Lions within four with under 15 minutes left, but the Engineers pulled away to the delight of their home crowd.
An Engineer three put them up eight, 56-48, with 14:27 left. After a WPI hook shot that gave them a ten-point lead, Armant buried a three with 10:21 remaining. After two more Engineer layups, Arico’s three got Emerson back within eight with 8:18 remaining. His fadeaway jumper at the 5:10 mark brought the deficit to five, 68-63. After another Engineer layup, Volonte canned a three to bring Emerson within four with 4:25 to play, forcing the Engineers to regroup.
WPI then separated themselves with a 12-0 run over the next two minutes, leading 82-66 with 1:38 remaining. The Engineers evaded Emerson’s trap and scored at the basket with 1:13 left. Armant’s midrange jumper broke Emerson’s scoring drought with a minute remaining. Arico drained another three with 44 seconds left, bringing the score to 86-71. Both squads scored their remaining points off of free throws, with the Lions’ season ending at the hands of a conference rival. WPI moves on to the conference championship against Clark University on Saturday.
Arico led the Lions with 17 points, including three three-pointers, in addition to two rebounds and two assists. Helmhold finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Armant rounded out Emerson’s top three scorers with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. The Lions collectively shot 26/63 from the field (41.3%), 8/22 from three (36.4%) and 13/18 from the free-throw line (72.2%).
The Emerson men’s basketball team ends the year with a 13-14 overall record and a 7-9 showing in conference regular season action.
