Worcester, Mass. – Jake Gubitose (Fiskdale, Mass.) drained a step-back baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining and host Clark University won its second straight nailbiter, topping MIT, 56-55 in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

The win for the Cougars snaps a seven-game losing streak to the Engineers and avenges a 27-point defeat earlier this season. Clark improves to 11-8 overall and 2-6 in conference play, while MIT, winners of five of their last six games, slips to 14-5 and 5-3 in league games.

MIT looked to be in cruise control midway through the second half after a Dennis Levene (Weston, Conn.) triple and a Tim Butala (Monroe, Conn.) jumper made the score 46-35 with just under 11 minutes left to play.

Clark answered back with a 15-0 run which was ignited by a Marcus Armstrong (Malden, Mass.) jumper and featured a three-point play from Andrew Musler (Belmont, Mass.), a Nicholas DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.) layup and then a DaPrato steal and Gubitose fast break hoop.

The Cougars were ahead 50-46 with under five minutes to play when Butala nailed another jumper and Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) made four free throws to give MIT a 52-50 advantage.

Clark knotted the score when DaPrato collected a steal and after a missed three-pointer, Tyler Huffman (East Hartford, Conn.) drove the lane for a left handed finish with 1:26 to play.

Frankel found Matt Redfield (Los Altos, Calif.) inside for another lead change and when Frankel intercepted an errant pass, Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) split a pair from the charity stripe, giving the visitors a 55-52 edge with 53 seconds to play.

After Pedley's second free throw rimmed out, Musler found Huffman who weaved through the defense for another inside hoop, bringing Clark to within one at 55-54 with 46 seconds to go.

MIT ran their next set and Frankel found a cutting Butala but he was fouled by David Mercier (Milford, Mass.). Butala didn't connect on either free throw, giving the Cougars the chance for the go ahead score.

The game-winning possession seemed a bit disjointed and Clark looked to be in trouble with time winding down on the game clock. Gubitose finally got the ball and dribbled right, splitting two defenders before getting to his spot where he dropped in the 12 foot jumper over the outstretched arms of Frankel.

MIT still had a chance and things looked promising after a half court pass found Redfield and they quickly called timeout. Inbounding from the far left side at half court, Russell Johnson (New York, N.Y.) saw his pass sail out of bounds, giving Clark the possession and the win.

The Cougars came out energized in the first half, racing out to an early 10-2 lead as both Musler and Mercier connected on triples to kickstart the opening spurt.

Clark's advantage maxed out at ten at 21-11 when Gubitose drilled a deep three pointer off of a feed from Musler.

MIT stormed back, however, outscoring the Cougars 20-5 over the final ten minutes of the half holding the hosts to 1-for-14 shooting during that stretch and went into halftime ahead, 31-26.

After shooting just 30 percent in the opening 20 minutes, the Scarlet and White made 11-of-25 second half attempts (44 percent).

The Engineers held advantages in points in the paint (20-16), bench points (30-23), rebounds (35-33), and free throws made (11-8).

Redfield paced the MIT attack with 14 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks, playing all 40 minutes. Butala came off the bench and wound up playing 30 minutes and registered a team-high 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Frankel, meanwhile, was excellent off the bench as well, totaling 13 points and nine assists and just two turnovers.

Clark was once again led by Musler, who finished with a game-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds three steals and two assists.

Huffman, who had two key layups down the stretch, finished with ten points in just 13 minutes, while Gubitose ended with nine points and three assists and DaPrato posted eight points, five rebounds and four steals.

The Cougars will end their home stand on Wednesday with a meeting with Coast Guard before embarking on a crucial three-game road trip beginning next Saturday at Emerson College.

MIT will play again on Wednesday as well, traveling to face Springfield College at 7:00 p.m.