CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Emerson College sophomore Michael Sheng (Altadena, Calif.) scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead the Lions to an 85-65 victory over Lesley University in non-conference men's basketball action tonight at the Nicholas Athletics Center. The loss slides the Lynx to a 0-5 start on the season while the Lions snap a three-game losing-streak to improve to 2-3 overall.
Sheng added a trio of assists and a steal to his line on the night while senior Austin Pinckney (Miami, Fla.) added a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds for the guests. Fellow senior Michael Thorpe (Newton, Mass.) finished nine points and three steals and sophomore John Geary (Duxbury, Mass.) came off the bench to add seven points.
Freshman Xeo Golding (Windermere, Fla.) led the Lynx in scoring for the fourth time this season as he finished with 22 points while junior Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) added 17 points, including going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line, and a game-best five assists. Junior Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) added eight points and classmate Jacob DiDomenico (North Providence, R.I.) finished with six points and six boards in reserve duty for the hosts.
A Corbin Polec (Okemos, Mich.) layup gave the hosts an early 7-6 lead in the first half before a Geary triple capped a 10-0 run for the Lions over the next three minutes as they jumped ahead 16-7. The Lynx would punch back with quick 7-2 spurt to trim the deficit to four, 18-14.
That would be as close as the hosts would get for the remainder of the half as the Lions would close out the first by outscoring the Lynx by a 27-16 margin to take a 45-30 edge into the break.
Lesley would continue to battle in the second and pulled to within 11 after a St. Simon free throw with 10:31 to go, but the Lions answered with a 9-2 run to push their lead to 18 and rolled to the 85-65 win.
The Lynx would hit on just five of their 28 attempts from beyond the arc to register a 32-percent shooting clip on the night while the Lions shot 44-percent from the field, including seven of their 18 tries from deep.
Emerson's bench proved to be a difference maker as they outscored Lesley's reserves by a 29-12 margin.
Both sides will face a quick turnaround and return to action tomorrow night. The Lynx will quarrel with Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Mass. at 7:00p while the Lions will play host to Fisher College, also at 7:00p.