FITCHBURG, Mass. – Senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) hit on a layup with two seconds left to lift the MIT men's basketball team to a 49-47 win at Fitchburg State this afternoon. In a tight game that saw no larger than a five-point difference between the two teams, Pedley's basket broke a four-minute scoring draught for MIT and gave the Engineers their second straight win on the road.

With four minutes to go senior Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) canned a three-point shot to give MIT (4-1) a 47-43 lead. Sophomore Josh Bosworth (Springfield, Mass.) answered with a field goal for Fitchburg State (3-4) to make it a two-point game. After a missed jumper by MIT, the Falcons tied the contest on a pair of free throws by Givaughn Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) with 2:43 to go.

Both sides missed their next two shots and committed a pair of turnovers, with the final one coming with 13 seconds left when Pedley picked up his second theft of the game. After an MIT timeout, freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) found Pedley open for the layup and the two-point lead with two ticks left. Fitchburg State called a timeout, but could not come up with the equalizer as junior Jaleel Bell (Dorchester, Mass.) missed on his attempt to send the game to overtime.

Fitchburg State scored first in the contest, but MIT came back to open a 7-4 lead after four minutes on a layup by Jomard. The Falcons then came back to out score the Engineers 9-2, taking a 13-9 advantage on a three-pointer by sophomore Richie Warren, Jr. (Lynn, Mass.). MIT then picked up back-to-back threes from freshman Adam Jurko (Weston, Fla.) and Frankel to go back on top 15-13.

MIT pushed its lead to five points at 20-15 on a free throw from freshman Tim Roberts (Oak Bluffs, Mass.), but the Engineers missed on their next seven field goal attempts and Fitchburg State came back again, taking a 23-20 lead with 3:30 on the clock on a layup by senior Kwame Lee (Brockton, Mass.). Jurko broke the shooting drought with a shot, making it 23-22, which is where it stayed at the half.

Pedley hit a three to open the scoring in the second half, but the second half unfolded much as the first, with neither team able to gain much of an advantage. At the midway point of the half with the Falcons holding a one-point edge (35-34), the lead changed hands four times in a minute.

Fitchburg pulled in front by three points at 41-38 on a pair of free throws by senior Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, N.H.) with 8:46 left, but Roberts grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in to cut the lead to a point. With 6:43 left Jurko put the Engineers back on top with a jump shot, but Bell answered on the Falcons' next possession. With 4:54 left Roberts changed the scoreboard back in MIT's favor, with Frankel hitting his trey a minute later to set up the final four minutes of the game.

Roberts came off the bench to lead MIT, which shot 40 percent from the floor, with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Pedley finished with 10 points for the Engineers, with Jomard grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out four assists. Lee was the only player in double figures for Fitchburg State, finishing with 13. Bosworth pulled down 11 boards, with the Falcons holding a 35-33 rebounding edge while shooting 35 percent.

MIT will be back in action on Tuesday, December 1 when it plays at UMass Boston at 7:30 p.m.