Strong Second Half Powers MIT Past Newbury, 71-53

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BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Newbury College men's basketball fell to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 71-53, Monday evening. Sophomore guard Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) shot 50.0% from beyond the arc for a game-high points en route to the Engineers seventh victory of the season.

Junior forward Christian Sheridan (Chicago, Ill.) gave the Nighthawks a quick 6-2 advantage, opening with two treys before the Engineers responded with a 6-0 run to grab their second lead of the game. However, the MIT lead did not last for long. First year guard Ceejae Carter (Dorchester, Mass.) drained a long three-point jumper with under 13 minutes to play to ignite a three-minute, 11-3 run to give the Nighthawks their largest lead of the game, 17-10.

However, MIT answered with a lengthy, four-minute, 11-0 run of their own to take a 21-17 lead before first year Devin Johnson (Manchester, Conn.) broke up the run knocking down a trey to cut deficit by one. Moments later after the Engineers pushed the game back to two possessions, first year forward DaRay Ross (Laurel, Md.) brought the Nighthawks back to within two with fewer than two minutes remaining in the half. But it was as close as the Nighthawks got as MIT ended the have with a 6-2 run to go into the half with a 34-26 lead.

When the teams emerged from the locker rooms at the start of the second period, the Engineers broke the game wide open. Pedley burst out in the half, shooting 50.0% from the floor for 12 of his 20 points while sophomore guard Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) came off the bench and added 13 of his 17 points in half.

Newbury was not going to back down. Trailing by as many as 23 points at three different times late in the half, they battled their way back. After registering six points in the first half, Sheridan remained consistent in the second adding another six points to finish with a team-high 12 points while Carter followed up with nine points on the evening.

MIT junior forward Dennis Levene (Weston, Conn.), who netted 11 points in the first half, finished the game with a double-double tallying 13 points and 11 boards. Fellow junior forward Andrew Acker (Merion Station, Pa.) also notched a double-double, recording 10 rebounds as he rounded out the Engineers in double-figures with 14 points.

Newbury drops to 0-9 on the season while MIT improves to 7-2. The Nighthawks return to the hard-court after the winter break when they host non-conference Tufts University on Saturday January 4th at 1:00 p.m. The Engineers will be back in action on Saturday December 14th when they host Wheelock College at 7:00 p.m.