Springfield, Mass. - November 19, 2019 - The Springfield College men's basketball team eased their way to a 90-64 victory over Becker in non-conference play in Blake Arena on Tuesday.
The win lifted Springfield to 5-0 on the season, marking the first time that Springfield has won five games to begin the season since the 2011-12 campaign. The Hawks dipped to 2-3 with the setback
Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.) continued his remarkable play with 32 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and five steals, and classmate Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) added 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with nine boards as the duo only played 23 minutes apiece. Robert Baum (West Springfield, Mass.) added 11 points off the bench as Springfield finished the night shooting 33-for-62 (53%) en route to their fourth 90-plus point outing of the season. Springfield owned a 40-29 edge on the glass and totaled 22 assists on 33 made field goals.
Springfield limited the Hawks to just 64 points in the win, despite Mateus Ribeiro tallying 18 points and Jamir Carr added 15.
Ross went coast-to-coast for his seventh-straight point as Springfield opened up a 10-0 lead just 2:49 into the contest. The Pride's advantage grew to 16-3 when Ross got into the passing lane for another steal and bucket in transition with just over 15 minutes remaining in the stanza. After Becker pulled within 16-10 at the 13:09 mark on an inside score by the Hawks, a three-point play by Ross allowed the Pride to regain a 22-10 advantage. The visitors would pull within six again at 23-17 midway through the frame, only to have Springfield regain a 36-23 lead when Ross took a sensational feed from Post to punch out a dunk in traffic with 7:15 on the clock. The lead would balloon to 45-29 when Post elevated for a deep three at 4:11, and a turnaround on the baseline by Post with under a minute to go allowed the Pride to take a 55-37 cushion into the break. The hosts were very efficient on the offensive end of the ball, going 20-for-30 (67%) while handing out 14 helpers, in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The visitors cut within 61-45 under four minutes into the second half, but the Pride opened up a 24-point lead when Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) cashed in triple at the 13:07 mark. Springfield would coast from there with a number of new faces in the lineup as it would lead by as many as 30 points following a three-pointer from Sam Dion (Barre, Mass.) with 4:43 remaining to make it 87-57.
Springfield will not hit the courts again until December 4 when it hosts Trinity at 7:30 pm.
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Photo by Lucy Hamilton