WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University men's basketball team (8-7, 4-2 NEWMAC) traveled down Park Ave for a conference contest against No. 22 WPI (12-2, 4-1 NEWMAC) and dropped a defensive battle 58-49 on Thursday night from the Harrington Auditorium.

How it Happened

• The Cougars jumped out to an early 5-2 lead as senior Bruce Saintilus made a layup and junior Reid Neumann connected on a three-pointer.
• WPI then scored 10 unanswered led by five points from Tim Reidy before Clark rattled off seven straight points sparked by four from senior Kekoa McArdle and a triple from senior Isaiah Taylor as the contest was tied 12-12 with 8:45 left in the first half.
• After the Engineers took a five-point lead, Taylor netted the Cougars next three points to cut the deficit to two at 18-16 with 4:39 remaining in the half.
• WPI ended the half on a 9-2 run with the two Clark points coming from Taylor as the scarlet and white trailed 27-18.
• Taylor and Neumann combined to score the scarlet and white's first six points of the second half before Clark went on a 9-0 run sparked by triples from senior Ian Calabrese, sophomore Quentin Pridgen, and Neumann made it a 36-33 contest with 10:59 to play.
• After a made layup from J.R. Newman pushed the edge back to five, Saintilus and first-year Nathan Charlot scored the games next four points to cut the deficit to one at 38-37, but WPI rattled off 10 straight points over the three plus minutes to take a 48-37 advantage.
• Saintilus ended the Engineer run with a pair of free throws and after trailing by 12 with 3:11 remaining, the scarlet and white scored seven unanswered as Taylor made a pair of layups and Pridgen connected on a triple to cut the deficit five at 51-46 with 1:46 to play.
• Reidy buried his third triple of the evening to push the lead back up to eight and down the stretch graduate student Jordan Richard hit a three-pointer, but the Engineers came away with a 58-49 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Clark grabbed 40 rebounds, forced 15 turnovers, and held the Engineers to 37.3 percent from the floor.
• Taylor led the team with 15 points and dished out three assists.
• Neumann also reached double-figures with 10 points and hit three triples.
• Pridgen pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and added six points.

What's Next
The Cougars will return to the court on Saturday afternoon when they welcome MIT to the Kneller for a conference contest beginning at 1:00 p.m.