WORCESTER, Mass. – Clark University men's basketball were defeated in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest on Wednesday night as MIT used 15 three-pointers to come away with an 89-64 final at the Kneller Athletic Center.  

The Basics

Score: Engineers 89, Cougars 64

Records: Clark University (8-16, 3-10 NEWMAC) | MIT (11-13, 4-9 NEWMAC)

How it Happened

Junior co-captain Tyler Davern (Webster, Mass.) tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds to notch his seventh double-double of the season while shooting 8-of-18 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Zackary Mittelstadt (Wilton, Maine) registered 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc and 5-of-10 in total. Junior co-captain Charles Stevens (Bronx, N.Y.) turned in 12 points with four three-pointers while dishing out two assists.

For MIT, Dan Pilsbury scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-8 from the floor while pulling down eight rebounds and adding five assists. Alex Cho and Ian Hinkley each tallied 18 points apiece while combining for 10 three-pointers. Matas Masys and Giannis Chatziveroglou scored 14 and 12 points respectively to round out the double-figure scorers of the Engineers.

The Cougars began with a 4-0 lead through the first two minutes as Davern made a lay-in before converting a pair from the charity stripe. The Engineers equaled the start before a three-pointer from Alex Cho gave the visitors a 7-6 lead.

With a 14-8 score, the team's traded buckets with Mittelstadt and Stevens connecting on back-to-back threes from the Cougars before the Engineers upped the ante with triples by Cho and Masys for a 22-14 lead.

After a dunk from Kael Kordonowy made it a ten-point game, Clark's early barrage from beyond the arc continued with Stevens and junior Anthony Grzembski (Webster, Mass.) leading a 6-0 run of the hosts with a three-pointer apiece for a 24-20 score.

MIT took control of offensive momentum as three consecutive three-pointers, including two in a row from Cho, fueled an 11-2 scoring run. The Engineers outscored the Cougars 8-3 in the final five minutes to bring a 43-25 lead into the halftime break.

Davern got the scoring going to start the second half after connecting on a three-pointer from the wing. But the visitors built upon their momentum as a three-pointer from Hinkley at the 16:29 mark made the margin 54-34.

With 12:24 to go in the game, the Cougars put together their best stretch as a lay-in from Davern sparked an 11-2 scoring run, capped off with three-pointers from Mittelstadt and Stevens to make it a 67-52 margin. 

The teams traded buckets in the final ten minutes with MIT holding an 18-12 scoring advantage over that time. Stevens and junior Matthew Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) combined for six points in the final minutes for the Cougars as the Engineers were able to maintain the 89-64 final result. 

Clark finished with a 21-of-56 shooting performance from the floor (37.5%) and hit on 10-of-33 from three-point range (30.3%) while MIT was 33-of-54 from the floor (61.1%) and 15-of-29 from beyond the arc (51.7%). The Engineers held a 32-26 advantage on the glass while combining for 25 assists as a team.

Up Next

The Cougars close out the 2020 regular-season on Saturday, February 22 when they travel to NEWMAC foe Wheaton for a 1:00 PM tip-off.