WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (18-6, 7-6 NEWMAC) led by as many as 34 in the second half as they cruised to an 88-70 conference win over Springfield (5-17, 3-10 NEWMAC) on Wednesday night from the Kneller Gymnasium.

The Cougars clinched the No, 4 seed in the NEWMAC Tournament with the win and will host No. 5 MIT on Tuesday, February 22.

How it Happened

• Springfield scored the first four points of the game, before Clark went on a 12-0 run led by seven points from sophomore Bruce Saintilus, a three from first-year Isaiah Taylor, and a layup from Biko Gayman gave the Cougars a 12-4 edge with 16:10 left in the first half.
• A three-pointer from sophomore Mikey O'Brien. a layup from first-year Kyle Jackson, and graduate student Matthew Waggett extended the lead to 19-6 and another Waggett layup helped push the advantage to 25-11 with 11:16 to go in the first half.
• Graduate student Tyler Davern scored Clark's next nine points and three's from Taylor and O'Brien pushed the lead to 16 before the Cougars again got three's from Davern and Saintilus gave Clark a 46-29 edge at the half.
• Davern and Saintilus combined for Clark's first nine points of the second half and an and-one layup from Taylor gave the Cougars a 59-35 lead with 16:26 remaining in the second half.
• Clark then went on a 15-9 run with five points coming from senior Zachary Mittelstadt, four points from Waggett, and layups from Taylor, Davern, and Gayman extended the advantage to 74-44.
• Senior Joel Arteaga then added nine points that was capped off by a three-pointer as the Cougars came away with an 88-70 win.

Inside the Box Score

• Saintilus netted a team-high 19 points and grabbed six rebounds.
• Davern added 18 points and pulled down five rebounds.
• Taylor recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, and five steals.
• Arteaga added nine points and Waggett netted eight.
• Clark grabbed 40 rebounds, made 11 threes, and dished out 16 assists, while recording 17 steals and forcing 23 turnovers.

What's Next

Clark will close out the regular season with a senior day NEWMAC game against WPI on Saturday beginning at 3:00 p.m.