SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Clark men's basketball (19-6, 13-3 NEWMAC) closed out the regular season with a 72-68 victory over Springfield (7-18, 4-12 NEWMAC) on Saturday afternoon from Blake Arena and clinched the two seed in the NEWMAC Tournament.

The scarlet and white earned a bye in NEWMAC's and are slated to take on the winner of No. 3 Wheaton and No. 6 Emerson on Thursday night from the Kneller Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.

How it Happened

• Clark jumped out to an early 12-0 lead over the first five minutes of play led by five points from both junior Isaiah Taylor and first-year Quentin Pridgen as well as a made layup from junior Kekoa McArdle.
• McArdle and junior Bruce Saintilus scored the team's next four points before the Pride pulled to within eight and a layup from sophomore Reid Neumann gave the Cougars an 18-8 lead with 9:55 to go in the first half.
• Pridgen hit his second three-pointer of the half and buckets from senior Mikey O'Brien and McArdle helped keep the lead in double-digits at 30-18 with 2:42 to play in the half.
• After a 6-0 Springfield run, Pridgen scored Clark's final four points of the half, including a three-pointer with 0:01 to go before the half as the Cougars took a 34-26 advantage into the half.
• Taylor scored right out of the break to regain a 10-point lead, but Springfield rattled off eight straight points before Neumann made a layup with 15:05 to play and give the Cougars a 38-34 edge.
• The Pride took a 43-40 lead off a made triple from John Paulino before four points from McArdle and O'Brien gave Clark the edge back as both defenses were controlling the pace of the game.
• Taylor found Neumann for three with 9:16 to play before a Taylor layup gave Clark a three-point advantage, but again Springfield tied the game at 49-49.
• Senior Jordan Richard hit a three-pointer off a feed from O'Brien with 6:45 remaining to put Clark up three and buckets from both Saintilus and Taylor gave the scarlet and white a 58-51 lead.
• The Pride cut the deficit to four multiple times over the next two minutes of play, but O'Brien, Saintilus, and McArdle all scored in the time period, with the McArdle layup pushing the edge to 64-58 with 3:28 remaining.
• The Cougars held Springfield to just two points over the next two and a half minutes while getting four points from Taylor as Clark led 68-60 with 0:56 to go.
• Neumann and Taylor scored the Cougars final four points as Clark came away with a 72-68 victory over Springfield.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars grabbed 46 rebounds, dished out eight assists, and recorded six steals.
• Taylor led the team with 17 points on 6-8 shooting while adding three steals.
• Pridgen added 14 points off the bench and five rebounds.
• McArdle registered his 11th double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Neuman also reached double-figures with 11 points.

What's Next
Clark will be back in action on Thursday night when they host a NEWMAC Semifinal game against the winner of Wheaton and Emerson.