BOSTON, Mass. – An Isaac Dobie lay-up with four seconds left in the second half helped the MIT men's basketball team escape with a 69-67 non-conference victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology on Monday evening at Tansey Gymnasium. The victory was the first for B.J. Dunne as the head coach of the Engineers, but it featured late drama, as MIT watched a 19-point second half lead disappear over the final ten minutes of play, only to see Dobie rescue the victory in the dying seconds of regulation.
THE BASICS:
- Score: MIT 69, Wentworth 67
- Records: MIT 1-0 Overall, Wentworth 0-2 Overall
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- A Merlin Gogolin jumper at 10:09 of the first half broke a 10-10 tie through the midway point of the opening frame as MIT used the jumper to find momentum, opening up a six-point lead over the next two minutes of play and taking a 19-13 advantage when Dobie knocked down a three-pointer at 8:02.
- Wentworth countered, closing the gap over the next minute with a 7-1 run that tied the teams at 20-20 when Russell Dolabany completed a layup-and-one at the 6:51 mark of the first.
- The remainder of the first half belonged to MIT, as the Engineers would eventually take a seven-point advantage into the half following a jumper by Gogolin with 13 seconds left before the break.
- MIT outscored Wentworth 19-12 over the final 6:21 of the first with Rome Delgado-Gonzalez scoring ten points, including going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
- Leading 39-32 at the half, MIT opened the second half with a 10-1 run, taking a 49-33 lead following a pair of Gogolin free throws at 15:16. The Engineers' lead would grow to as many as 19 points when Delgado-Gonzalez knocked down a three at 11:49 to make the score 55-36.
- With MIT in command, Wentworth started to chip away at the lead. Back-to-back jumpers from Dylan Olson and Colin Mannke cut the deficit to 14 at 6:16 before a Andy Weeman dropped in a layup at 5:39 to pull the hosts back within 12 points, 62-50.
- Free throws from Jackson Weiland and Henry Marshall helped to push the MIT advantage back to 15 points at 4:41 but a 16-1 Wentworth run saw the MIT lead vanish over the next four-plus minutes of play as two free throws from Sean Racette tied the game at 67-67 with 31 seconds to play.
- Dunne called a timeout during the ensuing MIT possession, drawing up a play to isolate Dobie at the top of the key. The junior then drove to his right, elevating to make a contested layup and give MIT the lead again, 69-67, with four seconds to play.
- A deep triple from Colin Mannke was off the mark for Wentworth as time expired as MIT held on for the victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Gogolin tallied a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds for MIT, shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
- Dobie finished with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-8 from three-point range.
- Delgado-Gonzalez was one rebound short of a double-double, scoring 13 points, grabbing nine boards, and tallying three assists.
- Mannke scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds off the Wentworth bench to lead the Leopards.
- MIT finished the game shooting 19-of-58 (32.8%) from the field and 7-of-19 (36.8%) from three-point range.
- Wentworth scored 24 points off 18 MIT turnovers, while MIT scored just 12 off 11 Wentworth turnovers.
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