CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Trailing 33-31 at halftime, visiting Salve Regina University outscored the MIT men's basketball team, 37-21, in the second half to earn a 68-54 NEWMAC victory on Saturday afternoon at Rockwell Cage.
Jack Margoupis scored 32 points on 11-of-22 shooting to lead the Seahawks to victory. MIT had three players in double figures in the loss, paced by Michael Zhang's 17 points off the bench.
THE BASICS:
- Score: Salve Regina 68, MIT 54
- Records: Salve Regina 7-1 Overall (1-0 NEWMAC), MIT 4-6 Overall (0-2 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- It was a tale of two halves for MIT. In a game that featured five tie scores and nine lead changes. However, the game was only tied twice after the break, but once Salve gained the advantage after halftime, the Seahawks never let it go.
- Neither team held a lead larger than five points in a back-and-forth first twenty minutes.
- The Engineers had the lead, 19-16, just past the midway point of the first after Jackson Weiland hit two-of-three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt.
- Salve would wrestle it back when Margoupis hit a three on the break to give the visitors a 22-19 lead at 8:29.
- The teams exchanged the lead multiple times through the closing eight minutes, with MIT taking the advantage at the half on the heels of five straight points from Zhang.
- Five points from Margoupis at the start of the second half erased MIT's halftime lead. The Engineers and Seahawks then played to a 38-all score at 14:34 but Salve would retake the lead following a Pat Spenard three on the next possession, 41-28.
- The visitors went on to lead for the remainder of the second half, leading by as many as 13 points following a three by Margoupis at 9:17 that made the score 52-39.
- MIT worked the deficit back to six when Isaac Dobie hit a three at 6:51, and again when Zhang made two free throws to make the score 56-50 with 6:12 remaining but could not rally any closer.
- Salve eventually increased the deficit back to 13 points before closing out the game with a 14-point lead, 68-54, after Domenic Malvey hit two free throws in the closing seconds.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Dobie had 11 points and four rebounds for MIT, while Wyatt Mowery added a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.
- The Engineers struggled from distance in the second half following a strong first half. MIT was 5-of-11 in the opening twenty minutes but just 2-for-17 from three after halftime.
- Salve finished the contest shooting 8-of-18 from three but most of that came from the shooting of Margoupis, as he finished 5-of-11.
UP NEXT:
- Saturday's game closed out the first half of the season for the Engineers.
- MIT will return to the court on Saturday, January 3, 2026 at UMass Dartmouth. The contest is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
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