WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University men's basketball team were defeated, 80-64, on Saturday afternoon as Packy Witkowski's 25 points led the Bears toward victory in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) bout at the Kneller Center in the Inaugural Red Classic.

The Basics

Score: Bears 80, Cougars 64

Records: Clark University (8-15, 3-9 NEWMAC) | Coast Guard (9-13, 4-8 NEWMAC)

How it Happened

Junior Biko Gayman (Fort Pierce, Fla.) led the Cougars with 20 points on 7-of-13 from the floor while handing out three assists. The guard also knocked down 4-of-6 from the charity stripe while connecting on two three-pointers.

Sophomore Zackary Mittelstadt (Wilton, Maine) finished 4-of-9 in the game from beyond the arc, racking up 16 points to go with three rebounds and one steal. Junior co-captain Tyler Davern (Webster, Mass.) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Cougars with a 12-point game while dishing out a new career-high of five assists.

For the Bears, Witkowski's 25-point outburst was good for a game-high while also ripping down six rebounds, two steals and handing out two assists. Noah Baldez and Tyler Perez turned in 17 and 11 points respectively while combining for 17 rebounds to help bolster the visitors.

Coast Guard got out to a 7-0 lead to start before a bucket from Gayman put the Cougars on the board at the 18:17 mark of the first half. The host halved the deficit, 10-5, later on as a three-pointer from Joel Arteaga (Wyncote, Pa.) gave the team its first triple of the contest. Clark jumped in front just five minutes later as consecutive three's from Davern and Matthew Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) preceded a lay-up from Gayman for a 17-15 advantage.

Coast Guard controlled a 24-19 lead at the midway point of the half after layups from JT Cox and Garrett Drummond. Clark came right back as a jumper from Mittelstadt capped off a 6-0 run to give the host a 25-24.

The Bears gained separation with a 12-3 run, bookended with a three from Witkowski at the 3:19 mark. But again, Clark had an answer as a trey from first-year Joshua Schibi (Burlington, Conn.) was the final bucket of a 7-0 run lasting the final 2:22 of the half for a slim 39-38 halftime deficit.

Coast Guard came out of the break hot as a Witkowski delivered five straight points as part of a 9-0 unanswered run in the opening 3:30 of the half. The Cougars came right back to match with three-pointers from Charles Stevens (Bronx, N.Y.), Davern and Mittelstadt bringing the gap back down to 48-47 with 15:23 to play.

The exchange of runs continued as Coast Guard quickly opened up another one with a Justin Kane layup and a three-pointer from Tyler Perez bookending an 11-2 run to take a ten-point lead at 59-49. With 7:57 to go, Mittelstadt cut the gap, 62-54, after connecting on his second of three triples in the half.

The eight-point deficit was the closest the Cougars would get as Coast Guard outscored the host by a 16-8 clip throughout the remaining 4:15 on the clock en route to the 80-64 final score.

Clark finished 23-of-56 from the floor (41.1%) and knocked down 12-of-33 from beyond the arc (36.4%) while Coast Guard was 29-of-61 shooting (47.5%) and 8-of-17 from the triple (47.1%). The Bears controlled a 42-27 advantage on the glass.

Up Next

The Cougars welcome MIT for their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, February 19. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM.