WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (9-7, 1-4 NEWMAC) played a back-and-forth contest in their second game of a three-game homestand against No. 12 WPI (13-2, 5-0 NEWMAC) on Wednesday night from the Kneller Gymnasium, but the Cougars fell 83-75.

How it Happened

• Clark held an early 8-6 lead sparked by a pair of three-pointers from junior Jordan Richard and a pair of free throws from first-year Reid Neumann before a triple from sophomore Isaiah Taylor extended the Cougars edge to 11-8 with 14:04 to go in the first half.
• The scarlet and white then scored the next five points of the contest with a three-pointer from sophomore Ian Calabrese and a jumper from junior Mikey O'Brien as Clark took a 16-8 advantage.
• After the Engineers went on a 9-0 run, Calabrese responded with his second three-pointer of the half to put Clark back up by two and a pair of layups by sophomore Kekoa McArdle pushed the lead to 23-17 with 7:43 left in the first half.
• WPI got back within two before Taylor hit another triple off a feed from O'Brien to extend the advantage back to five and a layup from O'Brien on the next possession put Clark up seven at 28-21.
• The Engineers then scored 10 unanswered points before Neumann responded with another three-pointer and after WPI led 35-33, Clark ended the half on a 6-2 run sparked by six more points from Neumann as the Cougars led 39-37 at the break.
• After McArdle opened the second half with a made layup off a feed from O'Brien, the Engineers scored nine unanswered points before another Calabrese three-pointer brought Clark back within two at 46-44 with 17:01 remaining.
• Calabrese hit another triple to get Clark back within five at 54-49 with 13:05 to go before the Engineers would push the advantage to 10 with 11:07 to play.
• Clark then went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes sparked by three-pointers from Richard, Neumann, and Calabrese to make it a 61-60 ballgame with 8:45 remaining.
• The teams then traded buckets over the next two minutes before Taylor connected on a triple off a feed from graduate student Joel Arteaga to give the Cougars a 65-63 advantage.
• O'Brien hit a pair of free throws with 5:27 to play to extend the lead to four and an and-one layup from O'Brien with 4:47 to go kept the lead at four in a 70-66 contest.
• After the Engineers tied the game at 72-72, they scored the next four points before McArdle hit a free throw to make it a one-possession game again at 76-73 with 1:19 to go.
• WPI then scored the contest's next five points before O'Brien netted Clark's final hoop of the night as the Engineers came away with an 83-75 win.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars grabbed 28 rebounds, dished out 19 assists, and forced 11 turnovers.
• O'Brien netted 15 points and dished out six assists.
• Calabrese also scored 15 points and hit five three-pointers.
• Neumann added 14 points and eight rebounds.
• McArdle and Taylor each netted 11 points.

What's Next

The Cougars will conclude their homestand on Saturday with a home contest against Springfield beginning at 4:00 p.m.