WORCESTER, Mass. – The No. 2 Clark University men's basketball team (17-9), guided by a strong offensive second half pulled away from No. 6 Coast Guard (11-16) and came away with a convincing 71-53 win over the Bears on Thursday night from the Kneller Gymnasium.

The Cougars are now 3-1 all-time in the NEWMAC Tournament against Coast Guard and improve to 7-3 overall in the Semifinals. Clark will now appear in their seventh NEWMAC Championship game in program history when they travel to No. 1 WPI on Saturday for a contest at 2:00 p.m. inside Harrington Auditorium.

How it Happened

• The two teams opened the game by trading a pair of three-pointers each as sophomore Quentin Pridgen hit two for Clark and Elijah Parent and Ben Yagey hit triples for the Bears before a pair of senior Bruce Saintilus free throws with 16:32 to play in the first half gave the Cougars an 8-6 edge.
• After a jumper from Parent, Pridgen and first-year Boluwasefe John combined for the next four points before Coast Guard responded with seven unanswered sparked by a triple from Declan Rooney put the Bears up 15-12.
• McArdle ended the Coast Guard run with a layup and after a Parent triple, Clark rattled off seven straight points as graduate student Jordan Richard hit a triple and both first-year Boluwasefe John and Saintilus made shots to give the Cougars a 21-18 edge with 8:46 remaining in the first half.
• Luke Farrell and Parent combined for four of the games next six points before Richard's second triple of the half helped push Clark's edge to four before a made layup from John extended the advantage to six at 28-22 with 6:15 to go.
• Farrell scored the Bears next four points before John hit a free throw to make it a 31-26 contest, but Coast Guard rattled off five straight points to end the half, capped off by a Parent three-pointer tied the game at 31-31 heading into the locker room.
• After a Yagey layup to open the second half, Richard buried a three-pointer and a made layup from McArdle pushed the Clark advantage to 36-34.
• Rooney netted the next four points of the game before an and-one from John helped spark an 8-0 run as Taylor and McArdle also scored as the Cougars held a 44-38 lead with 11:58 remaining.
• The Bears responded with a 7-2 run of their own capped off by a made triple from Rooney before Taylor and Saintilus combined for the next five points of the contest to give Clark a 53-45 edge with 8:52 to play.
• Parent and Colin Huang combined for Coast Guard's next four points before Saintilus buried a triple and a pair of Taylor free throws helped propel Clark's lead to double-digits at 61-49.
• After a pair of Huang free throws, Taylor, Saintilus, and Pridgen all scored to push the advantage to 67-51 with 1:21 to play.
• Farrell netted Coast Guard's final points of the game and both Saintilus and John each scored before the end of the game as the scarlet and white prevailed 71-53.

Inside the Box Score

• Clark made 29 shots, grabbed 36 rebounds, dished out 20 assists, and forced 16 turnovers.
• McArdle tallied his 11th double-double of the season with 10 points and 18 rebounds.
• Pridgen also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Saintilus (15), John (13), and Taylor (11) also reached double-figures.
• Saintilus dished out a game-high seven assists.
• Parent led the Bears with 17 points and connected on three triples.
• Rooney (10) and Farrell (10) also reached double-figures for the Bears.

What's Next
The Cougars will compete in the NEWMAC Championship for the second straight season and seventh time in program history when they travel to No. 1 WPI for a contest beginning at 2:00 p.m.