SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (14-10, 6-7 NEWMAC) earned a spot in the NEWMAC Tournament with an 84-76 road win over Springfield (6-18, 3-10 NEWMAC) on Wednesday night from Blake Arena.

How it Happened

• Clark took an early 9-5 lead sparked by a pair of three-pointers from junior Mikey O'Brien, a made jumper from junior Bruce Saintilus, and a made free throw sophomore Isaiah Taylor.
• Sophomore Kekoa McArdle then converted an and-one layup with 16:05 left in the first to keep the lead at four at 12-8 and another McArdle layup extended the lead to 14-8.
• Sophomore Ian Calabrese connected on a triple and an O'Brien jumper helped keep the lead at six before a pair of triples from first-year Reid Neumann pushed the Cougars advantage to 25-17 with 8:53 to go.
• After the Pride got within three, junior Jordan Richard and Saintilus went on a 5-0 run as Richard hit a triple and Saintilus made a jumper to push the lead to 32-24.
• Taylor and McArdle combined to score the team's next six points as Clark led 38-36 and a pair of free throws from both Saintilus and Taylor gave the Cougars a 42-36 lead, but the Pride ended the half on an 8-0 run as Springfield led 44-42 at the half.
• McArdle scored four of Clark's first six points out of the half to give the Cougars a 48-45 lead and jumpers from Richard and Taylor as Clark took a 55-49 advantage with 14:21 to go.
• Richard then hit a pair of three-pointers to push the lead to 61-52 and a Saintilus layup with 11:24 remaining gave Clark a 63-52 advantage.
• After Springfield cut it to seven, Richard hit a pair of free throws and another Saintilus layup with 7:47 to play in the game pushed the lead back up to double-digits at 70-60.
• Saintilus and Calabrese then led a 4-0 run and a Neumann triple with 4:47 remaining pushed the Clark lead to 15 at 77-62.
• Springfield cut it to 12 with 3:21 to play, but Neumann extended the lead back to 15 with another three-pointer as Clark would come away with an 84-76 win.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars grabbed 41 rebounds, dished out 19 assists, and forced 15 turnovers.
• Saintilus led the way with 18 points and five rebounds.
• Richard added 17 points, including three made three-pointers.
• McArdle netted 15 points and grabbed six rebounds.
• Neumann also reached double-figures with 12 points and made four triples.
• Taylor dished out a team-leading nine assists, while also scoring nine points and grabbing seven rebounds.

What's Next

Clark will close out the regular season on Saturday with a road contest at WPI beginning at 3:00 p.m.