Springfield, Mass. – Host Springfield College picked up its eighth win in its last nine games and held off a hard-charging Clark squad with an 65-57 victory over Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night in Blake Arena.

With the win, Springfield improved to 17-7 overall on the season and 9-4 in league play, while Clark falls to 10-14 overall and 4-9 in conference play.

Springfield dominated the contest in the paint, scoring 44 of its 65 points while also holding a 43-28 advantage in rebounds in the victory. Overall, the Pride shot 25-of-59 (42.4%) over 40 minutes, while holding Clark to just 22-of-57 (38.6%) from the field.

Senior guard Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) scored a team-high 20 points, while also registering three assists, four steals and four rebounds. Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) and Tim Swenson (Millbury, Mass.) both posted double-double performances, each tallying 14 points and 11 rebounds on the evening.

For Clark, Tyler Huffman (West Hartford, Conn.) notched a career-high 18 points, while David Mercier (Milford, Mass.) had 15 points and four rebounds in the contest.

The Pride jumped out to an early 8-0 lead after Martin went end-to-end and finished off a lay-up in transition, before Nicholas DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.) nailed a three-pointer to cut the Cougars' deficit to five.

After a 13-0 run from the Cougars, capped off by a jumper in the paint from Mercier, Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) came up with a steal and basket to bring the Pride back to within three.

Musler extended Clark's lead to ten after a lay-up underneath the basket, before four-straight points from Swenson brought the Pride back to within six.

Down 31-27 late in the first half, Musler hit a three-pointer to give Clark a seven-point advantage, but Piretra and Martin capitalized on back-to-back chances in the waning seconds of the stanza to bring the Pride to within three points prior to the break.

Springfield started the second half on a 10-3 run, including eight points from Martin to give the Pride a 41-37 lead, but Mercier answered for the Scarlet and White, hitting his third triple of the contest to bring Clark back to within one.

Even at 49 apiece midway through the second half, Piretra gave the Pride a two-point edge with a put-back lay-up. Both sides exchanged baskets before the junior hit a pair from the stripe to give Springfield back the lead.

Swenson then gave the Pride a four-point advantage with a dunk underneath the basket, before Piretra found Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) on the wing, and the senior converted Springfield's first three-pointer of the contest to give the Pride a five-point lead.

On the Pride's ensuing possession, Altman hit another from deep to put Springfield up six. Musler brought the Cougars back to within four with a steal and a basket. From there, Springfield was able to close out the Cougars with four-straight free-throws from Martin.

Clark will wrap up its 2014-15 regular season on Saturday with a meeting against crosstown rival, WPI.