Springfield, Mass. – December 7, 2024 – The Springfield College men's basketball team defeated Emmanuel College, 87-67, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.

Springfield, winners of back-to-back games, moved to 3-4, while Emmanuel dropped to 0-9. The Pride have won back-to-back games for the first time since January 14 and January 18, 2023.

Springfield was guided by Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.), who tallied 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the floor, five rebounds and two assists, while Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) poured in 16 points and Hunter Matteson (Dartmouth, Mass.) registered 12 points and eight boards – both off the bench for the Pride. Springfield shot a season-best 52.9-percent from the floor (37-for-70) and dished out a season-best 18 assists in today's victory over the Saints. The 87 point output was also a season-high for the Pride and the most points since a 90-54 win over Babson a season ago.

The opening eight minutes of play was back and forth with Emmanuel holding a four point edge on two occasions before a trey by Evely off a feed from John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) and a layup from Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.) gave Springfield a 19-18 lead -  lead the Pride wouldn't relinquish. Both of those buckets were part of an 12-0 run that saw Springfield go from trailing 18-14 to leading 26-18 midway through the first.

With 3:55 left in the opening stanza, Matteson knocked down a pair of shots from the charity stripe and Livingston registered a layup on the fast break to push Springfield's lead to its largest of the first half at 10, 36-26. Vondre Chase buried a trey of his own to pull Emmanuel within five with 1:10 left on the clock, but Flynn's layup gave Springfield a 40-33 edge heading into the break.
 
Over the first 5:09 of the second, Springfield outscored Emmanuel by a 15-5 margin – a run that was capped on a trey by Livingston and a layup off a Saints turnover by Flynn as the Pride upped the advantage to 17, 55-38. The visitors never got any closer than 11 points and a three by Zachary Campbell (Philadelphia, Pa.) with under a minute to play gave Springfield its largest lead of the game of 22 points, 87-65 en route to the 87-67 final on Saturday.

Saints sophomore Noah Beaudet finished with a team-high 16 points on 6-of- 12 shooting. Fellow sophomore Mahari Guerrier added 15 points while junior Vondre Chase chipped in with 14 points. 

Springfield will welcome Regis College, Amherst College and UMaine Farmington to Alden Street for the 2025 Fairfield Inn & Suites/Naismith Classic on January 1-2. The Saints return on Monday, Dec. 30, with a 2:00 p.m. game at Lehman College.

*Release courtesy Springfield College Athletic Communications Office