CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Four players in double
figures, led by sophomore Billy Bender with 17 points, helped MIT
secure a 76-53 win over visiting WPI in New England Women's and
Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on
Wednesday night. Noel Hollingsworth added a double-double with 16
points and 10 rebounds as the Cardinal and Gray, ranked No. 9 in
the country in the latest D3Hoops.com Top 25, downed WPI for the
first time since 2003. With the win MIT improves to 14-1 and 2-0 in
NEWMAC play. WPI, which has captured at least a share of the NEWMAC
regular season crown in each of the past six seasons, falls to 11-3
(0-2 NEWMAC).
MIT scored the first eight points of the game capped by a
Mitchell Kates lay-up at the 16:27 mark. A three-pointer by Bender
with 11:12 to go in the first gave the homestanding Engineers an
18-8 advantage. However, the visitors from Worcester would battle
back with a 10-3 run over the ensuing 2:58. Jeffrey Robinson began
the spurt with a traditional three-point play and a Fernando Perez
lay-up with 8:14 on the clock closed the gap to just three. That
would be as close as WPI would get the rest of the way however, as
senior co-captain Billy Johnson scored seven of MIT's next 12
points during a key run that would push the hosts' lead back to 13.
Coming out of the break trailing 40-27, the Worcester Engineers
scored the half's first four points to close within nine. However,
Tech outscored WPI 10-2 over the next 4:46 to open up a 17-point
advantage that it would not relinquish.
Perez was the only WPI player to score in double-figures,
finishing with 10. Robinson played a solid game at point guard,
tallying eight points to go along with six assists. MIT held the
visitors well below their season average of 82.8 points per game
while limiting WPI to just 40.8% shooting.
Kates (11 points, 6 assists) joined Burke (12 points) in double
figures as Tech shot 61.7% from the field, including 7-15 from
three-point range. MIT also had a 34-21 advantage on the glass.
Both teams will continue with conference play on Saturday,
January 16. WPI hosts Coast Guard at 1:00 p.m. while MIT travels to
Clark for a 2:00 p.m. start.
