THE BASICS:
 
- Score: Emerson 97, MIT 88
 
- Records: MIT (12-11, 5-8 NEWMAC); Emerson (16-6, 9-4 NEWMAC)
 
- Location: Boston, Mass. (Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym)
 
- The Lead: On Wednesday night, the MIT men's basketball team fell to Emerson College by a 97-88 final in the team's final regular-season road game of the year. The Engineers trailed 50-31 at the half before eventually dropping the nine-point final. Despite the loss, MIT clinches a spot in next week's NEWMAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed and will travel to No. 4 seeded Clark University for the opening round game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- In the first half, Chad DiCenzo's layup at the 14:08 mark put the Lions up by double digits at 15-5 and built to a 20-point advantage on a dunk from Zach Waterhouse.
 
- After trailing by 19 at the half, MIT settled down in the second period on offense and cut the margin down to 14 with 5:33 left after a three-pointer from sophomore Charles Rich (Holladay, Utah). After the Lions pushed the lead back to 95-74 with 3:30 remaining, MIT closed the game on a 14-2 run behind a pair of threes from senior Ian Hinkley (Raleigh, N.C.) and sophomore Micah Boone (Pike Road, Ala.), as well as four points from junior Alex Cho (San Diego, Calif.).
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Cho led MIT with 19 points behind 9-for-10 shooting at the free throw line, along with 15 points from Hinkley as he connected on 5-of-8 three-point attempts and now has 300 made three-pointers in his career. First-year Kade Killeen (Austin, Texas) added 13 points off the bench, while senior Dan Pilsbury (Millington, N.J.) had 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
 
- For Emerson, Jarred Houston posted a 24-point, 17-rebound, seven-block outing, while Waterhouse tallied 20 points in 32 minutes. Max Davis added 15 off the bench, along with 14 from DiCenzo.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- The Engineers close out the regular season on Saturday, February 19th as the Engineers host Babson College for a 2 p.m. start. Prior to the game, the Class of 2022 will be recognized for their contributions to the MIT men's basketball program during their careers.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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