Boston, Mass. - November 15, 2019 - The Springfield College men's basketball team earned their third-straight win to open up the 2019-20 season by virtue of a 92-82 win over Endicott in the the Emmanuel College Tip-Off Classic on the Andy Yosinoff Court on Friday night. 

For the fifth time in the last nine years, the Pride improved to 3-0 to begin the season, while Endicott slipped to 1-1. 

The story of the game was Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.), who netted a game-high 33 points on 14-of-22 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, to go along with 11 rebounds.  Ross became just the third player in program history to reach the 2,000 career point milestone, doing so in just 83 career games and joining the likes of Springfield all-time greats Derek Yvon and Hassan Robinson.  

Classmate Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) was dominant with a 15-point, 15-rebound, six-assist showing, Collin Lindsay (East Longmeadow, Mass.) delivered 15 points and four assists, and Noah Cummings (Epsom, N.H.) was steady off the bench with 11 points.  For the game, Springfield shot 53.6% (37-69) and owned a 39-25 edge on the glass.

Endicott seized a six-point edge at 21-15 at the 10:57 mark, but the Pride would answer with a 9-5 spurt as Post followed up his own miss with a bucket to knot the game up at 26 with 5:32 remaining. A crafty finish inside by Cummings put Springfield on top, 30-29, just over a minute later, and a corner three from Lindsay with under 60 seconds to play allowed Springfield to take a 40-36 advantage into the halftime break. The Gulls shots 54% from the floor in the first half, including 5-of-9 from deep.

Ross heated up to start the second half, netting 11 points in the first 2:26 to push the Pride's advantage to 53-43, and would reach the 2,000 point milestone when he grabbed a defensive rebound and eased down the court before pulling up for a three with a defender his face at the 17:51 mark. Endicott would battle back nine-straight points to make it a one-point game, only to have Post and Lindsay drill three-pointers to key an 8-0 spurt which allowed Springfield to regain a 61-52 lead at 14:40.  However, the Gulls would chip away at Springfield's lead, getting as close as 76-75 with 5:44 to play before a step-back three from Trey Witter(Unionville, Conn.) and another trifecta from Lindsay allowed the Pride to gain some breathing room at 82-77.  Ross would put the game out of reach with a three-pointer and inside finish to make it a 10-point game with 1:44 on the clock, as the Pride would cruise to the non-conference win. 

The Pride will play host Emmanuel on Saturday at 7:30 to conclude the tip-off classic. 

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