WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (10-7, 2-4 NEWMAC) closed out its three-game homestand with a convincing 80-62 win over Springfield (5-12, 2-4 NEWMAC) on Saturday afternoon from the Kneller Gymnasium.  

How it Happened

• Clark opened the game with a 7-6 lead sparked by five points from sophomore Isaiah Taylor with a made layup and three-pointer as well as a sophomore Kekoa McArdle layup with 14:20 remaining in the first half.
• Junior Jordan Richard and graduate student Joel Arteaga then were able to connect on a pair of three-pointers that helped extend the lead to seven at 15-8 before the Pride went on a 10-0 run to take an 18-15 lead with 6:43 remaining in a defensive oriented first half.
• The Cougars then responded with 11 unanswered points sparked by three-pointers from junior Mikey O'Brien and first-year Reid Neumann as well as buckets from Taylor and McArdle to give the Cougars a 26-18 edge with 3:29 to go in the first half.
• Clark ended the half on an 11-6 run led by four points from Taylor, three from sophomore Ian Calabrese, and two from both Richard and O'Brien as the Cougars took a 37-24 lead into the half.
• Neumann hit a three on Clark's first possession of the second half off a feed from McArdle to extend the lead up to 16 and after the teams traded baskets the next few possessions, Taylor hit a three as the scarlet and white held a 45-29 advantage.
• After Springfield cut the deficit to six at 47-41, Calabrese hit a three-pointer off a feed from Richard and hit another triple with 12:12 to go to push the lead back up to double-digits at 53-43.
• Arteaga kept the lead in the double-digits with a three-pointer off a feed from O'Brien and a Richard triple with 9:09 left extended the advantage to 61-48.
• Taylor scored Clark's next six points with a made three and an and-one layup and free throw before a Richard layup with 6:53 remaining pushed the lead to 17 at 69-52.
• After the Pride went on an 8-0 run, Richard hit another three-pointer and a Calabrese triple pushed the edge to 75-60.
• Neumann scored Clark's final five points of the game as the Cougars came away with an 80-62 win over Springfield.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars grabbed 46 rebounds, dished out 21 assists, and forced 19 turnovers.
• Taylor scored a team-leading 22 points, while adding seven assists and three steals.
• Richard added 15 points and dished out four assists.
• Calabrese netted 13 points after connecting on four three-pointers.
• McArdle pulled down 16 rebounds and netted eight points.
• O'Brien dished out nine assists, collected eight rebounds, and scored five points.

What's Next

The scarlet and white will begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday when they travel to Babson for a NEWMAC contest beginning at 7:00 p.m.