BOSTON, Mass. – MIT took a 16-point halftime lead and then held off a second half charge by UMass Boston to take a 74-66 men's basketball non-conference win. The Engineers saw the Beacons completely erase their halftime lead, but bounced back to out score their opponent 14-5 over the final three minutes to claim the victory. Senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) hit seven three pointers on his way to a career-high 33 points to lead MIT, while Maurice Magras led UMass Boston with 18 points. 

MIT (5-1) shot nearly 50 percent from the floor in gaining their halftime lead. After falling behind 6-2, senior Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) and Pedley hit back-to-back treys to put the Engineers on top 8-6. After Sam Freeman hit his third shot of the game to tie things up for UMass Boston (3-3), Pedley drained another trey and MIT never trailed again in the half. Pedley's shot started an 8-0 run that had the Engineers on top, 19-8, after a free throw from freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France).

MIT led by as many as 13 before UMass Boston out scored the Engineers, 6-1, to pull to within eight at 26-18 on a pair of Freeman free throws with 6:15 left. But freshman Adam Jurko (Weston, Fla.) hit a three and later a pair of free throws to push the MIT advantage back to double digits at 31-20. Threes by Jurko and Pedley put MIT up 37-22 with 3:40 on the clock and the Engineers went on to take a 40-24 lead at the break.

A basket from senior Lampros Tsontzos (Amarousion, Greece) to start the second half made it an 18-point lead for MIT and the Engineers were still up by 18 after Pedley hit another trey at the 16:46 mark. UMass Boston then scored seven points in a minute and a half, cutting its deficit to 11 points on a three from Dan Powers. A Tsontzos layup stopped the scoreless streak for the Engineers, but the Beacons kept coming and a three by Magras and a jumper from Kevin Louis-Jean had UMass Boston within eight at 49-41 with 13:34 to play.

Pedley put MIT back up by 10 at 56-46 with another three midway through the half, but it was last points the Engineers would put on the board for over four minutes. The Beacons got baskets from four different players during the MIT slump, pulling within one on a three from Iser Barnes with six minutes left. UMass Boston kept the pressure on and a Magras three and a layup by Quadry Allen completed a 15-4 run and put the Beacons on top, 61-60, with 3:17 to play.

MIT immediately took the lead back on a pair of free throws from Pedley and then scored five more, three on Pedley's final long-range shot of the night, to take a 67-61 advantage with 1:36 on the clock. From there the Engineers hit all five of their shots from the free throw line to put the game away.

Pedley finished 10-of-20 from the field and also added five rebounds and five assists. Tsontzos recorded his first career double-double for the Engineers with 13 points and 13 rebounds, both career bests. Jurko also had 13 points for MIT off the bench. Freeman added 12 points and seven rebounds for UMass Boston, with Barnes chipping in 11 points. Powers led the Beacons with eight boards. MIT out rebounded UMass Boston, 36-29.

MIT, which won all three games on its road swing, will return home to Rockwell Cage on Thursday night where it will entertain Salem State University at 7:00 p.m.