On Saturday, though, winning truly did require contributions from the whole Emerson men’s basketball team.
“It was a team effort,” said senior guard Will Dawkins.,It’s a clicheacute; that pops up every so often at sporting events, along with other classics like “taking it one game at a time”.
On Saturday, though, winning truly did require contributions from the whole Emerson men’s basketball team.
“It was a team effort,” said senior guard Will Dawkins. “Today we came out focused.”
The Lions (15-3, 8-3 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference) defeated the St. Joseph’s College Monks, 80-70, in a game that stayed very close for the first 30 minutes.
However, with 10 minutes left in the contest and Emerson clinging to a 52-47 lead, the Lions caught fire with a run that put the game out of reach.
Dawkins started things off with a 3-pointer, but freshman forward Jon Showers was the key with his two additional triples. Moments later, two Emerson lay-ups pushed the score to 65-47, completing the 13-0 stretch for the Lions.
Showers, who started while sophomore center Bryan Rouse was sidelined earlier in the year with an ankle injury, said he relishes his role as a utility player for the Lions.
“I like coming off the bench,” he said. “It lets you get a sense of the game before coming in.”
Dawkins said that Showers has been a tremendous addition on both ends of the court. In the game against the Monks, Showers, who finished with 11 points, complimented his 3-pointers by making some key defensive plays.
“He’s getting more and more confident,” Dawkins said. “When he plays against bigger guys, they leave him open for jumpers. When he knocks them down, it opens the floor for other guys. It helps a lot.”
Rouse, in his second game back, played sparingly during the contest. Although he started the game, he played just 15 minutes. He looked fairly strong, though, with nine points during his limited action.
Head coach Hank Smith said he would keep an eye on Rouse’s ankle until it heals.
“We want to start him because he’s loose after warm-ups,” he said. “We’ll play him as long as he can go.”
Late in the first half, Emerson almost lost another starter to a foot injury. Dawkins came down hard after battling for a rebound, and was forced to leave the game. He did, however, return for the second half, although he played with a noticeable limp for the remainder of the contest.
After the game, Dawkins said he did not expect the injury to sideline him in the future.
The Lions also had to overcome an off game from senior forward Ben Chase, the team’s leading scorer at 18 points per game. Chase netted just seven points in the contest. The team still had plenty of offense, though, as Dawkins and sophomore guard Jeremy Shannon contributed 20 points apiece.
After the game, Showers, who came up with the big shots for the team at the critical moments of the contest, said that it was just his turn to make the plays.
“Someone had to step up,” he said. “Luckily, I was able to hit a few threes.”