Worcester, Mass. – Visiting MIT held Clark University to 29 percent shooting in the second half and powered through to a key 55-50 win over the Cougars in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action in front of a raucous crowd of 1,122 fans on Wednesday night.

The Engineers improved to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in league action with the win – one full game of Clark, who now sits at 9-8 and 3-3 in conference play.

In a game that never saw either team take a double-digit lead and had three lead changes and three ties, MIT took a 32-30 lead early in the second half and never relinquished it as they won their fifth straight over the Cougars.

Clark found itself trailing 49-42 following Justin Pedley's (Kennewick, Wash.) third three-pointer of the second half, but then embarked on a quick 6-0 run as Tyler Veretto (South Windsor, Conn.) made back-to-back layups and then Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, Mass.) finished inside as well to bring the Cougars within one at 49-48.

Will Tashman (Atherton, Calif.) made two from the charity stripe with 3:12 left but Veretto was able to find D.J. Bailey (Palmer, Mass.) underneath and the score was 51-50 at the 2:10 mark.

Marcus Armstrong (Malden, Mass.) had a chance to put Clark ahead but his short baseline jumper popped out.

Mitchell Kates (Colts Neck, N.J.) drove to the hoop on the Engineers next possession but his short shot rolled off the rim. Tashman corralled the rebound and found James Burke (Scotch Plains, N.J.) who was immediately fouled. Burke knocked in both of his free throws, making the score 53-50 with 32 seconds to play.

Armstrong's game-tying three point try caught the front rim and bounced right back to him. The ball was moved around to Jonathan Phillips (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who watched his long three-point attempt fall into the waiting arms of Kates with 11 seconds to go ending any hopes of a Cougar victory.

Clark shot 54 percent in the first half as they pounded the ball inside to Bailey and got a huge spark off the bench from Nicholas DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.) helping them to a 29-28 halftime lead.

The Cougars held a 32-30 edge on points in the paint and converted 22 Engineer turnovers into 20 points.

MIT, meanwhile, shot 44 percent from the field for the contest (20-for-45) and had a 33-28 edge on the glass.

Clark, who entered the game as the league's best free throw shooting team, connected on only 9-of-14 attempts and just 7-for-12 in the final 20 minutes.

Tashman and Pedley led all scorers with 16 points apiece, while Burke added 11 for MIT. Tashman added 13 rebounds to notch his eighth double-double of the season.

Bailey paced the Cougar offensive attack with 15 points – 11 of which came in the first half. Vayda chipped in with ten points, three rebounds and three steals. Bailey added four rebounds, three steals and three blocks to his total – including the 100th rejection of his career.

Both teams are on the road on Saturday against NEWMAC opponents. MIT visits Coast Guard at 1:00 p.m., while Clark travels to Wheaton for a 3:00 p.m. tip.