BOSTON, Mass. – After a slow start, the MIT men's basketball team battled back to take a two-point halftime lead and then held off Emmanuel College down the stretch to claim a hard-fought, 64-62 victory. Senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) reached the 20-point mark for the second time in the last three games, leading the Engineers with 24. John Clay hit for 21 to lead the Saints.

MIT (6-2) missed its first eight shots of the contest and Emmanuel (1-6) pulled out to a 7-0 lead before Pedley put the first one through the hoop for the Engineers, hitting on a three more than five minutes in. Kyle Davis followed with a layup to put Emmanuel up 9-3, but the MIT eventually battled back to tie things at 9-9 on another Pedley three at 11:09.

After MIT took its first lead of the night on a layup from freshman Sam Bockman (Oceanside, Calif.), Davis answered for Emmanuel with a three-point play to put the Saints back on top. The teams then combined to miss the next eight shots and the game remained tight until freshman Adam Jurko (Weston, Fla.) made back-to-back baskets, including a three, to put the Engineers on top 21-16. The lead did not last long, with Clay matching Jurko with five straight points to tie it at 21-21. MIT then scored four straight to retake the lead and managed to stay in front at the half, 27-25.

It remained tight over the first five minutes of the second half; with MIT holding a 35-33 lead on a Pedley layup. Four minutes later the Engineers picked up two straight baskets from freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) that gave them their largest lead yet at 43-37. Emmanuel came right back with a three from Clay and a layup from Davis to cut it back to a one-point game.

Pedley then hit two triples for MIT, and with 8:35 left the Engineers held a 49-42 lead. Four Pedley free throws completed a 10-1 run by MIT, putting the Cardinal and Grey up 53-43 with 7:43 to go. Emmanuel then put together a run of its own, out scoring the Engineers 8-2 in just a minute and a half to pull back within four at 55-51 after a basket by Colin Cordero.

With 2:48 left Jomard hit on a shot that put MIT up by six, but Clay hit a three a minute later to cut the lead in half. The three point advantage proved to be enough, however, as a basket by Roberts and a free thrown from Pedley offset two late baskets by Davis to give the Engineers the victory.

Jomard hit 7-of-10 from the field to finish with 14 points for MIT, which shot 42.1 percent for the game. Roberts added 12 points and led the Engineers with eight rebounds. Clay completed a double-double for Emmanuel by leading all players with 13 rebounds. Davis also recorded a double-double for the Saints with 19 points and 12 boards. Cordero added 11 points for Emmanuel, which held a 48-35 edge on the glass.

MIT will return home for its next game, hosting Rhode Island College on Thursday, December 10 at 7:00 p.m.