February 26, 2008
Eagles Reach End Of The GNAC Road With Loss To Lions

(Courtesy Emerson Sports Information)
Boston, Mass. - Will Dawkins (Sr., Springfield, Mass.) scored 24 points,
had nine rebounds, and dished our six assists to lead top seeded Emerson College (23-3) to a 93-70 victory over number eight seed Daniel Webster College (8-18) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference first round game. Dawkins, who became the GNAC's all-time championship tournament scoring leader with 151 points, led five Lions in double figures in the balanced effort.

Emerson never trailed in the game but the Eagles remained close for the first 15 minutes. Emerson led 31-24 with 8:30 left in the first half, but Daniel Webster pulled to within a basket at 36-34 on a layup by Steve Savage (Fr., Salem, N.H.). From that point on it was all Emerson as the Lions went on a 16-0 run and ended the half with a 20-4 blitz.

The Lions continued to pull away in the second half as the lead swelled to 84-51 with nearly eleven minutes remaining in the game. A three point shot by Chris Hansen (Fr., Salem, Mass.) narrowed the Emerson margin to 18 with 4:03 left, but that was as close as the Eagles would come.

In addition to Dawkins, Bryan Rouse (So., East Greenwich, R.I.) had 16 points and eight boards, Ben Chase (Sr., Newburyport, Mass.) had 15 points, and Jeremy Shannon (So., Lowell, Mass.) and Tom Messenger (Fr., Florence, Mass.) each had a dozen points.

Brian Inge (Jr., Fort Washington, Md.) led the Eagles with 14, with Hansen and Adam Landry (So., Vernon, Conn.) adding 11.

Emerson advances to the Semifinal round on Thursday evening when the Lions will host fifth seeded St. Joseph's College at 7:00pm. St Joe's defeated fourth seed Johnson & Wales University 71-68 in Providence.

Daniel Webster was playing its final game in the GNAC. The Eagles will be switching to the New England Collegiate Conference at the conclusion of the academic year.