As the Emerson men’s basketball team dueled against Springfield on Feb. 15, sophomore guard Guillermo Gasset Ruiz had done just about everything for the Lions—blocking three shots, nailing two jumpers and grabbing a rebound in 19 minutes of action. The only thing he hadn’t done? Shoot free throws, and Gasset Ruiz was about to do it with the game on the line.
With 1.3 seconds left and the Lions locked in a 61-61 stalemate with the Pride, Gasset Ruiz had enough ice in his veins to swish both free throws for a two-point lead. Springfield’s near-full-court heave over two Lions was off to the left, and Emerson escaped with a 63-61 victory. With a three-game win streak, the Lions now stand at 6-8 in the NEWMAC and 11-12 overall.
“We got on him early in the year—I think he missed a lot of free throws earlier in the year, and he’s been money the last couple of games from the line,” head coach Bill Curley said of Gasset Ruiz’s clutch shooting from the stripe. “He’s somebody I trust a lot—he’s earned that trust, and he’s worked for it.”
The Lions and Pride started the first half in a back-and-forth scoring battle. After the Pride converted a layup with 16:23 remaining, senior guard Lucas Brenner canned a three-pointer at the 16-minute mark for a 6-4 Emerson lead. A layup from junior center Linus Helmhold gave Emerson a 15-8 lead with 10:20 to go, and after a layup on Springfield’s end, more buckets from Helmhold and Brenner put Emerson up by nine with under eight minutes remaining. Brenner grabbed a rebound and passed to junior guard Jacob Armant on a fast break. He found first-year guard Hank Gramlich for a corner three at the 7:32 mark, which put Emerson up 22-10 and forced a Pride timeout. The Lions maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the first half, holding a 33-19 lead at halftime.
Emerson opened the second half with a Gasset Ruiz three before trading buckets with the Pride. The Lions held a 38-23 lead with under 19 minutes left. The Pride then went on a 12-2 run to get the deficit to five with under 12 minutes left. But the Lions pulled away once more, leading 47-36 after Helmhold found Gramlich for a corner three with 9:24 remaining. Springfield’s buckets dwindled the deficit to three, burying a triple with 5:47 left. A Helmhold three-point play gave the Lions a 59-52 lead with 4:44 remaining.
Two quick buckets by the Pride cut Emerson’s lead to three before Armant drained a pair of free throws with 2:37 to go. A Springfield three made it a 61-59 ball game with two minutes left. Though they missed another three moments later, the Pride hit a game-tying layup with 31 seconds left. Following an Emerson timeout, Armant’s fadeaway jumper for the win was blocked, but the ball landed in Gasset Ruiz’s hands, and he was fouled shortly after. The sophomore’s clutch free throws gave the Lions a crucial win with the playoff race heating up.
Arico and Helmhold tallied a team-high 13 points apiece for the Lions, with Helmhold adding 12 rebounds and two assists in his third career start. Gramlich scored a career-high 10 points off the bench for Emerson, along with two rebounds and two assists. Gasset Ruiz was the Lions’ third-highest scorer, ending with seven points, three blocks, two assists, and two rebounds.
“I think it just really speaks on the type of team we are,” sophomore forward Shay Roban said. “At the end of the day, the tighter team is going to be the team that figures it out. When shots aren’t going and the defense slips, it’s our togetherness that gets us the win.”
Head coach Bill Curley acknowledged the difficulties of playing with a lead, citing Springfield’s close matchups throughout their own season.
“We’ve been in a few close games and haven’t really closed out a lot,” he said. “They [created] a lot of problems on the defensive end, and we weren’t scoring the ball, so it compounded things … We tried to throw everything and the kitchen sink trying to stop them.”
Curley also touched on the growth of several rotation players throughout the season, beginning with the first-year Gramlich.
“Hank, his energy is just tremendous,” he said. “His energy, his IQ, he hit some shots today—which were huge … Hank’s really carving out a great niche for himself, and he’s been tremendous just getting the ball where we need it, coming up with big plays, attacking and creating stuff for people. Defensively, he’s getting more confident. So he’s been a tremendous asset for us.”
He also praised Roban’s rebounding and shot-making, including a key jumper to beat the shot clock buzzer in the second half: “We know Shay’s a talent, and we have yet to see his best.”
Even as a sophomore, Roban said his adjustment to collegiate basketball was “tough” because of knee injuries that impacted his high school career.
“I missed my junior and senior year of high school—I tore my knee twice,” Roban said. “Coming into college, I hadn’t played for two years. So, it was a tough adjustment getting my body back in shape and ready to play. But recently, there’s been a lot of improvement, and I’ve been working hard to be able to get back on the floor. It’s all starting to come into fruition.”
“[I] feel good to know that Curley’s got the trust in me and my teammates have the trust in me as well,” he continued.
The Lions have two more NEWMAC contests to round out the regular season, beginning with their last home game on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. against Wheaton. Curley believes the team is better than their current record, adding, “We believe we can beat everybody.”
“Not just in our conference—we think anytime we step on the court, we think we have a great chance to win,” he said. “But to do that, [we’ve] got to show up. When we show up and we’re unselfish and we’re moving and we’re locked in, I don’t care who it is in the country—I feel we can play with everybody.”
Curley reiterated how the season is a “marathon” with multiple phases.
“You’re turning the corner down Boylston and seeing the finish line, and now it’s ‘Let’s go,’” he said. “You get to the playoffs, a whole new year begins and you’re playing with house money.”
He also lauded the team’s ability to step up without junior point guard Brendan McNamara, who has missed the entire year recovering from an offseason foot injury.
“Because they’ve worked hard enough, they put themselves in a position where they can take care of it and get in there,” Curley said. “Once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.”
“We all know we have the talent to beat anyone in the NEWMAC, so for us, it’s time to be consistent,” Roban said of the team’s final stretch. “It’s going to come down to how badly we want to win. We’re a hungry team, man. The Lions are hungry, so we’re gonna keep eating.”
