CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Leading by ten points with 3:38 left in regulation, visiting Emerson College held off a late rally to defeat MIT men's basketball, 65-62, in NEWMAC play on Wednesday night at Rockwell Cage.
Emerson junior Linus Helmhold (Krefeld, Germany) scored a game-high 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. Junior Parker Spann (Omaha, Neb.) finished with 17 points on 8-of-19 shooting to lead MIT. MIT senior Spencer Lin (Menlo Park, Calif.) went the distance, playing all 40 minutes, while scoring 12 points and adding four assists.
THE BASICS:
- Score: Emerson 65, MIT 62
- Records: Emerson (10-12, 5-8 NEWMAC), MIT (9-14,3-11 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Emerson opened the game on a 9-3 run before MIT countered with seven straight points to take a 10-9 lead when Spann powered in a layup at 13:24.
- The Lions wrestled the lead back from the Engineers through the midway point of the first, taking a 20-17 lead at 8:47 when Hank Gramlich (Dallas, Texas) knocked down a jumper on a feed from Helmhold.
- Merlin Gogolin (New York, N.Y.) knocked down one of two free throws on the next MIT possession but the Lions would use a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 27-18 with 5:57 left before halftime.
- A triple from Gogolin trimmed the deficit to three on the next possession, 27-23. The Lions countered by scoring eight of the final ten points in the half to take a 35-25 lead into the break.
- MIT erased the Emerson lead early in the second half, using a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to one, at 39-38, with 13:49.
- With MIT within one, a pair of quick fouls on Gogolin saw the MIT forward foul out of the contest with just over 13 minutes of play.
- Emerson took advantage, stretching the lead back to 10 with just over three minutes left in the second half.
- With time running out, MIT rallied again, as back-to-back buckets from Tim Minicozzi (Belmont, Mass.) were followed by baskets from Spann and Lin, trimming the lead to four, 62-58, with 1:14 left.
- Lin canned a jumper on the ensuing MIT possession, making the score 62-60 with 29 seconds left.
- Helmhold hit one of two free throws on the next Emerson possession, only to see Spann knock down another jumper on the next MIT possession to trim the lead to one, 63-62.
- With 11 seconds on the clock, Emerson sophomore Guillermo Gasset Ruiz (Malaga, Spain) made both free throws to put the visitors back up three, 65-62.
- MIT got a final attempt but a contested three by Lin was off the mark.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Helmhold recorded a double-double by halftime, scoring 10 first half points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
- Graduate student Trevor Arico (Saline, Mich) finished with 16 points for Emerson, shooting 7-of-16 from the field and hitting several big shots in the second half.
- Spann and Lin were joined in double figures by Gogolin who had ten points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
- MIT scored 16 points off turnovers, while limiting Emerson to just four.
- The Lions had the advantage on the fast break, outscoring MIT 17-7.
UP NEXT:
- The NEWMAC season continues for both teams on Saturday, February 15 at 1:00 PM. MIT will play at No. 13/17 WPI and Emerson will host Springfield.
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