MEDFORD, Mass. – Clark men's basketball (5-1) battled with No. 23 Tufts (7-0) for 40 minutes and traded leads throughout the game before suffering a 75-71 loss to the Jumbos on Thursday night from Cousens Gym.

How it Happened

• Clark opened the game with an 8-7 lead sparked by six points from junior Kekoa McArdle and a made jumper from junior Isaiah Taylor before the scarlet and white held the Jumbos scoreless over the next four minutes and added eight more points with three from both junior Bruce Saintilus and senior Jordan Richard to take a 16-7 edge with 13:01 left in the first half.
• A three-pointer from sophomore Reid Neumann gave the Cougars a 21-13 advantage before Tufts scored six unanswered and a made layup from Taylor extended the lead to 23-19 with 7:19 remaining in the first half.
• The teams then traded buckets over the next four minutes as McArdle, Saintilus, and first-year Quentin Pridgen each scored and right before the half, Saintilus made a layup off a feed from senior Mikey O'Brien as Clark took a 35-33 lead into the half.
• Tufts opened the second half on a 7-2 run that was stopped by a made layup from McArdle before the Jumbos pushed their lead to seven at 46-39.
• Saintilus then scored four points over a two-minute stretch, capped off by a jumper off a feed from O'Brien to make it a 48-45 game with 12:55 to go in the game.
• Junior Ian Calabrese hit a floater in the lane and a made triple from Taylor kept it a three-point contest before a made free throw from Neumann with 8:17 remaining pulled the Cougars within two at 54-52.
• Neumann then connected on a triple and an and-one layup from McArdle tied the game at 58-58 before first-year Christopher Clarke gave Clark a 60-58 advantage.
• McArdle scored four of the next six of the Cougars points, including a made layup with 4:09 remaining to give the team a 66-64 lead and made another shot too extend the edge to four at 68-64.
• A Saintilus layup with 3:10 to go kept the lead at four at 70-66 and a made free throw from McArdle less than a minute later made it a 71-68 contest, but the Jumbos scored the final seven points of the game to come away with a 75-71 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars grabbed 29 rebounds, dished out 11 assists, forced 13 turnovers, and shot 46.9% from the floor.
• McArdle led the way with a double-double as he scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
• Taylor added 17 points and dished out four assists.
• Saintilus also reached double-figures with 13 points and added four rebounds.

What's Next
Clark will return home for the first of a two-game homestand when they welcome Westfield State to the Kneller for a game beginning at 1:00 p.m.