BOSTON, Mass. – The Emerson College men's basketball team topped Wentworth Institute of Technology, 64-48, Saturday evening in the opening round of the Saints Greater Boston Classic.
Emerson scored the game's first 13 points and lead 19-2 led just 5:20 into the action capped by layup from junior Austin Pickney (Miami, Fla.).
Over the next eight minutes, Wentworth answered with an 18-4 run of its own, pulling to within a bucket at 23-20 after a free throw from sophomore Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.).
The squads would trade hoops to make it 25-22 with 4:31 remaining in the first half before Emerson closed out the stanza on a 10-3 spurt fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Jake Forchheimer (Avon, Conn.) to give the Lions a 35-25 halftime cushion.
Pickney led all scorers at the break with 13 points on 6-6 shooting, lifting Emerson to a team shooting percentage of 57.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Emerson remained in control during the early goings of the second half, opening the stanza with a 6-0 run capped by two free-throws from junior Michael Thorpe (Newton, Mass.) to make it 41-25 with 16:34 to play.
A three from Pickney on the wing made it 54-36 with just under eight minutes remaining to give the Lions the 18-point advantage.
Emerson took its largest lead of the contest following a jumper by freshman forward John Geary (Duxbury, Mass.) to put the Lions on top 60-38 with 4:48 on the clock.
Pickney finished the night with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds. Thorpe matched the 16-point total while Geary chipped in with 10 points. Senior Eli Kell-Abrams (Berkeley, Calif.) dished out a game-high nine assists in the win.
DeVaux led the Leopards with a team-high nine points.
Emerson will take on Regis in the Saints Greater Boston Classic Championship on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. Regis downed host Emmanuel, 76-59 to advance. Wentworth will face off against Emmanuel in the tournament's consolation game at 5:30 p.m.
