CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Senior Bruce Saintilus (Plainville, Mass.) scored 23 points and Kekoa McArdle (Pittsfield, Mass.) finished with a double double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, to lead visiting Clark University to an 85-69 victory over the MIT men's basketball team on Wednesday night at Rockwell Cage.
MIT Senior Spencer Lin (Menlo Park, Calif.) scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists, while senior Kade Killeen (Austin, Texas) added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and senior CJ Tummings (Harrison, N.Y.) connected on a late three pointer as MIT recognized its senior class during its final game of the season.
THE BASICS:
- Score: Clark 85, MIT 69
- Records: Clark (15-9,11-4 NEWMAC), MIT (9-15,3-13 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- MIT established an early lead in the contest, taking a 12-7 advantage at 14:09 when Merlin Gogolin (New York, N.Y.) finished off an and-one in the paint on a feed from Parker Spann (Omaha, Neb.).
- With MIT leading 14-9 two possessions later, Clark closed the gap to two, 14-12, on a three pointer by Ian Calabrese (Simsbury, Conn.) at 12:36.
- The visitors would tie the game several possessions later as the defensive intensity of the game picked up throughout the middle of the first half. Quentin Pridgen's (Fitchburg, Mass.) layup at 10:04 made the score 14-all before Clark would go on to gain a ten-point advantage over the next four minutes of play.
- Leading 19-18 at 8:08, the Cougars used a 9-0 run to take a 28-18 lead when Isaiah Taylor (Methuen, Mass.) put back his own miss at 5:52.
- The Clark lead would grow to 15 with 3:06 remaining in the first following a layup from McArdle that made the score 38-23.
- MIT closed out the first half with the final five points to enter the break trailing, 38-28.
- The second half belonged to Clark and Saintilus, as the Cougars full court press pressured MIT constantly after halftime.
- Saintilus score 15 of his game-high 23 points in the opening six and half minutes of the second half, helping the visitors to stretch the lead to 20 points after he knocked down a triple at 12:35 that made the score 59-39.
- MIT trimmed the deficit back to 15 at 11:29 thanks to a Wyatt Mowery (Winston-Salem, N.C.) layup, but the 15-point deficit was as close as the game would be for the remainder of regulation.
- Clark increased the MIT deficit to 27 points over the final 10 minutes of play, cruising to the 85-69 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Clark also got 17 points, three blocks and three steals from rookie John Boluwasefe (Corona, N.Y.).
- Clark's full court defense changed the pace of the game and helped the visitors outscore MIT on points off turnovers, 33-18. The Cougars also had a big advantage in the paint, attacking the basket throughout the contest and outscoring MIT, 42-22.
- Sophomore Isaac Dobie (Kitty Hawk, N.C.) added 14 points and three steals for MIT. First year Jackson Weiland (Medford, Ore.) matched Dobie with three steals while adding seven points.
- Lin is among the NEWMAC's leaders, averaging 3.4 assists per game. He finished the season with a season-best 100 assists, giving him 323 for his career.
- Killeen dropped in a season-high 13 points for the Engineers, finishing in double figures for the third time in his senior season.
UP NEXT:
- Wednesday's game concluded the 2024-25 season for MIT. Clark returns home to host Springfield for senior day and close out the NEWMAC regular season on Saturday, February 22.
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