WORCESTER, Mass.  – The Clark University men's basketball team (10-7, 5-3 NEWMAC) closed out the first half of league play Springfield (5-11, 3-4 NEWMAC) with a 79-71 victory over the Pride on Tuesday night from the Kneller Gymnasium.  

How it Happened

• The teams played to an early 7-7 tie led by three points from both senior Reid Neumann and sophomore Boluwasefe John before Neumann connected on a triple and a first-year Aliaun Iscandari layup gave Clark a 12-7 edge.
• Springfield rattled off four unanswered points before John slammed home a dunk off a feed from junior Quentin Pridgen, but the Pride netted the next six points of the contest to take a 17-14 lead with 12:00 to go in the first half.
• Iscandari scored the next three points and a combined five points from Neumann and Pridgen helped guide the lead to three before another Pridgen jumper with 6:30 remaining cut the Cougars deficit to 27-26.
• After four straight Pride points, Clark ended the half on a 10-4 run sparked by Pridgen and Neumann triples as well as four John points as the Cougars took a 36-35 edge into the locker room.
• John, Neumann, and Pridgen combined for the squads first eight points of the second half and helped push the lead to 44-40 before Cedric Rodriguez made a layup to bring Springfield back within a possession.
• Neumann hit another three-pointer and a dunk from John off a feed from Matanmi with 13:17 remaining pushed the Cougars edge to 52-45 before Pridgen added two free throws to push the lead to nine at 54-45.
• Matanmi and Pridgen traded buckets with Springfield before the Pride cut the deficit to four at 61-57 with 7:43 to go off a made triple from Zander Robinson.
• Clark scored six of the next seven in the game led by a sophomore Kyle Squires triple, a made layup from Matanmi, and a John free throw as they led 67-58 with 6:10 remaining.
• After the Pride got back within five, Squires buried a triple off a Pridgen feed, but Springfield fought back with four straight points over the next minute of action.
• Matanmi and John combined for six points as Clark led 76-69 before Ajay Lopes made a layup with 1:01 to play to cut it to a five-point deficit.
• The Cougars held the Pride scoreless the last minute of action and free throws from Squires and John helped them clinch a 79-71 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• Clark made 26 shots, grabbed 37 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, and forced 16 turnovers.
• John led the Cougars with 20 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and added three assists.
• Neumann added 18 points, including a team-high five made three-pointers.
• Pridgen nearly tallied a triple-double with 15 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds.
• Matanmi tallied eight points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.

What's Next
The Cougars will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to MIT for a road contest against the Engineers beginning at 3:00 p.m.