In their sixth straight playoff appearance, the no. 4-seeded Emerson men’s basketball team triumphed over the Springfield College Pride, 67-50, in the postseason’s first round on Feb. 25. It was the Lions’ first playoff win over Springfield since their 2019 meeting in the NEWMAC Semifinals, when Emerson went onto claim their first conference title in program history.

Senior guard Lucas Brenner led the Lions with 17 points, including five three-pointers. Junior guard Jacob Armant tallied 14 points, four assists, three rebounds and a block on the Pride’s 6’6” forward. Graduate guard Trevor Arico notched 12 points to round out Emerson’s double-digit scorers. As a team, the Lions shot 26/57 from the field (45.6%) and nailed eight of their 15 attempts from beyond the arc (53.3%).

“[It was] one of those days—you shoot the first one, it goes in, then all of a sudden, [the] next one goes in,” senior guard Lucas Brenner said of his performance. “It feels really good.”

The Lions and Pride traded baskets in the game’s opening minutes. Consecutive threes by Brenner gave Emerson a 15-13 lead with under nine minutes remaining. The Lions soon got hot from the perimeter, as sophomore guard Guillermo Gasset Ruiz was fouled on a made three with 7:29 to go. He converted the free throw for a 22-13 Emerson lead. Another Brenner three brought him to nine points in the first half and the Lions to a double-digit lead with 6:49 to go. Meanwhile, Springfield continued to chip away at the basket. Emerson led 27-23 at the break.

Emerson turned on the jets in the second half, as another three by Brenner put them up 37-28 with under 16 minutes remaining. Arico’s crafty layup at the 13:22 mark gave the Lions a 43-31 lead, and the Lions’ interior buckets eventually put them up 17 with under ten minutes to play. First-year guard Hank Gramlich dropped his defender with a spin move, but Armant’s three bounced off the back of the rim. Gramlich grabbed the offensive rebound and found Brenner, who drained his fifth three for a 20-point Lion lead. 

The purple and gold maintained their double-digit advantage over the next few minutes, leading 62-45 with 3:38 remaining. Arico, with a defender draped all over him, sank a fadeaway jumper to give the Lions another 20-point lead with less than two minutes to go. Springfield converted an and-one layup with over a minute to play, which was the last basket before the buzzer.

Brenner enjoyed how the Lions remained composed throughout the game, citing previous meetings where they let a lead get away.

“First game, we were up 15—they came back and beat us,” he said. “Second game, we were up a good amount [14], they came back and almost beat us. This game, we got up and we stayed level. We didn’t let them get back in, and they took out their starters with five minutes left.”

Head coach Bill Curley said the team’s halftime adjustments stemmed from an abundance of turnovers (13) in the opening 20 minutes.

“Give Springfield credit because they do a great job defending, and they caused a lot of them [turnovers],” he added. “When they’re getting pressured like that, sometimes you can’t mess around with the ball. You just [have] to go to the basket.”

Curley also praised Brenner and Arico, saying, “That’s how you want to leave your last home game.”

“Lucas was tremendous,” he added. “His IQ and understanding [of] what the other team is doing, and knowing how to get into those little nooks and crannies where he’s open … [He’s] somebody that we’re counting on.”

Arico was adamant about the Lions not losing their regular season finale, according to Curley. The fifth-year and co-captain led the team with 34 points as the Lions won the game that gave them the playoffs’ fourth seed.

“He said we’re gonna put this game out of reach to begin with,” Curley added. “He’ll drive you crazy a little bit, but he makes big shots, and he can get his shot off. [You’ve] got to love it.”

The contributions of the team’s underclassmen did not go unnoticed either, with Curley highlighting first-year forward Giulio Volonte and sophomore forward Caden Zurek.

“Giulio has been working hard all season,” he said. “He gets a little bit of a heart attack, but he’s crashing the boards, he runs, and he’s another guy that we think is going to have a great career.”

Gramlich, who finished with four points, two assists, a steal, and the jaw-dropping highlight play, discussed his mentality being thrust into the backup point guard role as a first-year.

“Coming in, we had a big team, so I didn’t really expect much—that’s what helped me a lot this season,” he said. “Not expecting much, just putting my head down, working, doing whatever the team does. Not trying to always look for my own [shot], but trying to get my teammates involved whenever I can.”

Curley believes the team “has not peaked at all,” and acknowledged there’s still room for improvement this late into the year, particularly as the road to a conference title goes through other elite opponents.

“You [have] to beat the best to get there anyway,” he said.

Moments after Emerson took down Springfield, the no. 6-seeded Coast Guard Academy Bears upset the reigning back-to-back NEWMAC champion Babson College Beavers 80-69, opening the door for another team to take the throne.

The Lions face the nationally-ranked, top-seeded WPI Engineers in the NEWMAC Quarterfinals on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.—a familiar foe for Curley and the Lions. Both teams met in the 2019 and 2022 conference championships, with Emerson winning the first meeting and WPI the second. This will be their first postseason matchup since the 2022 NEWMAC Championship game.

“They’re a good team, but we’re also a good team,” Brenner said. “Stick to our game plan, don’t falter, stay level, and I think we [have] a fighting chance.”

Curley praised the Engineers’ efforts this season, citing their discipline and offensive execution.

“They’re perennial 20-game winners for a reason,” he said. “You knew the road was going to go through their house at some point. Doesn’t matter when, so let’s go.”