THE BASICS:
 
- Score: Fitchburg St. - 78, MIT - 75
 
- Records: MIT (1-7), Fitchburg St. (2-5)
 
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)
 
- The Lead: A furious second-half comeback attempt from the MIT men's basketball team fell just short as the Engineers fell to Fitchburg St., 78-75 on Saturday afternoon in Rockwell Cage.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

- MIT scored the first four points in the game on back-to-back buckets from first-year Merlin Gogolin (New York, N.Y.). Fitchburg St. then went on a 13-5 run to pull ahead 13-9 at 15:17. First-year Will Bland (Virginia Beach, Va.) completed a three-point play to get MIT back to within one and a layup from sophomore Tim Minicozzi (Belmont, Mass.) put the Engineers back on top, 14-13.
 
- Joshua Jean Charles hit a three at 13:24 to start a 13-0 Falcons run to make it a 26-14 game before a jumper from junior Spencer Lin (Menlo Park, Calif.) ended the Fitchburg St. run. MIT chipped away at the Falcons lead, and the Engineers went into the half trailing 46-35.
 
- The Falcons continued to lead into the second half, and a Braeden White layup at 12:34 gave the visitors a 64-48 advantage. Wyatt Mowery got the Engineers' comeback started with a layup at 8:57 that sparked a 12-2 run and got MIT to within four with 6:58 remaining.
 
- Lin made it a two-point game at 74-72 with 4:05 left, but two free throws put Fitchburg St. back up four. First-year Isaac Dobie (Kitty Hawk, N.C.) converted a layup with 1:01 left to make it a one-possession game, but Matthew Drayton's layup with 20 seconds left put the Falcons back up four and they held on for the 78-75 win.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Lin led the Engineers with 17 points and Bland added 10. Gogolin recorded a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. Dobie fell a rebound shy of a double-double as he finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
- Drayton led the visitors with 18 points and Jean Charles finished with 15.
 
- MIT shot 41.5% from the floor and got 22 points from the bench.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- The Engineers will open up NEWMAC action on Wednesday, December 6 when they welcome Springfield College to Rockwell Cage for a 7 p.m. contest.   
 
STAY CONNECTED:

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