Springfield, Mass. - February 8, 2020 - The Springfield College men's basketball team battled their way to an 86-76 victory over Emerson in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) clash in Blake Arena on Saturday afternoon. 

The Pride, ranked 23rd in the country in this week's D3hoops.com National Poll, have now won six-straight conference games to improve to 18-3 and 9-1 in conference play, and avenged their only conference loss this season which previously came at Emerson.  The Lions dropped to 13-8, 6-4. 

Jake Ross (Northampton, Mass.) once again led the way with 29 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks, while Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) delivered 13 points and nine boards.  Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) registered 13 points off the bench for the Pride, which held a 38-32 edge on the glass and shot 26-for-53 (49%) for the game.

Jarred Houston netted 24 points, including 18 in the second half, to go along with 10 boards, while all 17 of Jack O'Connor's points also came in the second half.  Zach Waterhouse added 11 points.  The game featured a total of 50 fouls, including 35 in the second half.  Emerson allowed Springfield to go to the line 39 times in the game.

Springfield earned an early 7-2 lead just under three minutes into the contest after a trifecta from Ross, only to have the visitors regain a 12-11 advantage when Trevor McLean drilled a corner three with 14:19 on the clock. Fueled by five points from Post, Springfield would put together a 9-0 burst over the next 3:24 to grab a 20-12 cushion following an acrobatic finish at the rim by Witter.  Emerson would pull within 20-18 when Ben Allen scored down low at 8:02, but over the next five-plus minutes, Springfield would erupt on a 16-4 run, highlighted by a pair of fadeaway jumpers from Ross, to earn a 36-22 advantage with under three minutes to play.  Springfield would lead by as many as 15 points in the half and head into the halftime break leading 39-26 as Ross would finish the frame with 13 points and 12 boards.  

Emerson would lean on Houston in the early going of the second half to help the visitors pull within 42-35 just under three minutes into the stanza.  However, over the next 3:52, Springfield would explode on a 16-2 run thanks to four three pointers, including two from Ross, to go up 58-37. The Pride would maintain a double digit lead for much of the half, as a fast-break bucket from Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) made it a 72-61 contest with 4:26 on the clock.  Emerson answered with an 11-4 surge, thanks to seven points from O'Connor, to make it a two-possession game with 2:04 to play, but from there the game became a free-throw shooting contest, and Springfield knocked down 10 from the stripe in the final 1:14 to pull out the important conference victory. 

Next up for the Pride will be a trip to Wheaton on Wednesday for a 6 pm contest.

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