WORCESTER – Sean Duffy (Berwyn, PA) nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:23 remaining to put Emerson ahead for good as the Lions went into Harrington Auditorium and upset nationally-ranked WPI 56-53 on Wednesday evening.  

Emerson moves to 8-12 overall and 3-6 in conference play while WPI, 19th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, slips to 16-4 on the season and 6-3 in NEWMAC action. 

WPI used a layup by Ian Converse (Woodstock, CT) to take a 51-47 lead with 3:24 to go.  Emerson quickly countered with a jumper from Michael Thorpe (Newton, MA) and then got three straight stops on the defensive end before Duffy buried his trifecta following a feed from Thorpe to put the Lions up 52-51.  The guests got a steal from Thorpe and then, after a long offensive possession, got a key offensive rebound by Tyson Hallowell (Lincoln, MA) that forced the Engineers to foul.  Emerson secured the victory with four free throws in the final 17.1 seconds by Hallowell and Austin Pinckney (Miami, FL). 

Earlier, Connor Willgress (Mill Creek, WA) drained a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half to help push WPI to a 31-26 advantage at the intermission.  Emerson then scored the opening nine points of the second half, all coming from Hallowell and Mac Sashin (Martha's Vineyard, MA), to take its biggest lead of the night - four points - at 35-31 before Willgress accounted for the Engineers next basket when he canned another trifecta 2:25 into the second half.

Geoffrey Gray (Newton, MA) came off the bench to score 10 points to pace Emerson, who saw Thorpe, Hallowell and Duffy all scored nine points.   Pinckney had a solid all-around game with seven points, a game-best eight rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists while Thorpe doled out six assists and only committed one turnover. 

Sean Doncaster (Medford, MA) was outstanding for the  Engineers.  The junior posted team-bests of 16 points, eight assists and a career-equaling-high seven boards.  Converse notched 10 of his 12 points in the second half while Willgress reached a career-best with eight points along with Obi Obiora (Boston, MA), who grabbed six boards.  Clyde Niba (Atlanta, GA) led the Crimson and Gray with seven caroms. 

WPI begins a two-game road trip on Saturday, taking on league-leader Babson at 2pm.  Emerson is back home on Saturday, entertaining Clark at 3pm.