WORCESTER, Mass.  – The Clark University men's basketball team (6-3, 1-0 NEWMAC) hosted their conference opener against MIT (4-5, 0-1 NEWMAC) and dished out a season-high 23 assists in a convincing 84-68 victory on Wednesday night from the Kneller Gymnasium.

How it Happened

• MIT jumped out to an early 8-3 lead before junior Quentin Pridgen hit a three off a feed from senior Reid Neumann and Neumann hit a pair of triples within the first 6:00 of action as Clark trailed 10-9.
• The Cougars rattled off 11 unanswered points as first-year Trace Clark connected on a pair of three-pointers and Neumann added five points to take a 17-10 advantage with 12:54 remaining.
• The scarlet and white held MIT scoreless over a three-minute stretch and Clark rattled off four points as Pridgen and Squires each scored before Isaac Dobie ended the Engineers drought with a made free throw to make it a 21-14 contest with 9:17 to play before the break.
• MIT pulled back within four before junior Emmett Hendry connected on a triple and a Squires three-pointer with 6:39 to go helped keep the Cougars lead at seven in a 28-21 contest.
• First-year Aliaun Iscandari scored Clark's next five points and another Squires triple pushed the edge to 36-28 with 3:14 until the half.
• Clark ended the half on a 7-5 run as junior Malik Matanmi, Iscandari, and Squires all scored as the scarlet and white took a 43-33 edge into the locker room.
• Iscandari netted four of the Cougars first six points of the second half, with Squires adding two more points to extend the advantage to 49-35 with 16:22 to play.
• Pridgen hit three straight free throws and Matanmi threw down a dunk with 12:15 remaining as Clark held MIT to just two points over four minutes as the scarlet and white pushed their lead to 56-37.
• Pridgen netted four of the team's next six points and a pair of made free throws from Iscandari gave the Cougars a 66-49 advantage with 6:41 to play.
• First-year Boluwasefe John scored Clark's next five points and a triple from Pridgen with 4:25 remaining to push the edge to 20 at 74-54.
• Iscandari, Squires, Pridgen, Matanmi, and Hendry all scored before the end of the game as the scarlet and white prevailed 84-68 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Clark made 28 shots, grabbed 36 rebounds, dished out 23 assists, and forced 11 turnovers.
• Iscandari led the team with 18 points and went 7-8 from the free throw line.
• Pridgen nearly tallied a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.
• Squires added 15 points and seven rebounds, including three made triples.
• Neumann also reached double-figures with 10 points and tallied two steals.
• Eight Cougars scored at least five points in the game.

What's Next
The scarlet and white will be back in action on Saturday when they welcome WPI down Park Ave for a NEWMAC clash beginning at 1:00 p.m.