Jan. 17, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass. - Emerson College held Endicott to a season-low 53 points, as the Lions fired past the Gulls, 85-53, in a non-conference men's basketball game in Beverly, Massachusetts on Thursday night.
Emerson, now 11-1 on the season, used a high-tempo, quick ball movement offense to build a 10 point advantage at the midpoint of the opening frame. Ben Chase (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport) knocked down three of his 21 first half points at the 9:39 mark, sparking a 10-1 run resulting in a 31-14 lead for the visitors.
The Lions would carry their hot hand into the intermission as Will Dawkins (Springfield, Mass./Commerce) connected from behind the arc to give Emerson a 43-23 lead at the break. The Lions shot 55.6% (15-of-27) from the floor in the first half and also buried seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
The second half was much of the same for Emerson, as the visitors used an energetic game plan to smother the Gulls on both ends of the court. The Lions forced the Gulls to turn the ball over a total of 26 times - 11 in the second half - resulting in 31 points. Will Dawkins caught fire in the second stanza, as he shot 6-for-7 from the field for 18 second half points. Emerson led by as many as 36, as they cruised to the 85-53 win.
The Lions were led by Ben Chase's game-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Will Dawkins scored 26 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Jeremy Shannon (Lowell, Mass./Canterbury School) had 15 points and six assists in the win.
Endicott was paced by Tom Connor's (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) 11 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Freshman guard Ben Ford (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson) had seven points while senior Todd Burton (Lynn, Mass./St. Mary's/Canterbury) notched eight points in the losing effort.
With the win, Emerson improves to 11-1 (4-1 GNAC) while Endicott falls to 4-9 (1-1 TCCC). The Lions return to action on Saturday afternoon as they take on Daniel Webster College at 3:00 pm. Endicott looks to rebound as they travel to Springfield, Mass. to square-off with TCCC opponent Western New England College, also at 3:00 pm.
