Springfield, Mass. - January 31, 2018 - The Springfield College men's basketball team raced away with a 95-69 win over Coast Guard in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) meeting in Blake Arena on Wednesday evening. 

Springfield has now won its last eight outings to improve to 14-6, 8-1 in conference play, while the Bears dropped to 9-9, 1-8. The eight-straight wins marks the most the team has had since the 2004-2005 campaign. 

It was a special evening in Blake Arena as the Springfield faithful were treated to the first triple double by a Pride player since February 11, 2010 when Ryan Coburn tallied 17 points, 11 blocks, and 10 rebounds in a 79-77 overtime win over Western New England.  Tonight, it was Jake Ross(Northampton, Mass.) who was responsible for the rare feat, as the sophomore totaled 22 points, 12 boards, 10 assists, and five steals in just 28 minutes of action. 

In addition to Ross, four other Springfield student-athletes netted in double figures, with Cam Earle (South Hadley, Mass.) netted a career-high 20 points.  Andy McNulty (West Springfield, Mass.) scored 14 points, Trey Witter (Unionville, Conn.) added 12 off the bench, and Heath Post (Cheshire, Conn.) contribued 10 points, nine boards, and a pair of blocks.

For the game, Springfield shot 36-for-67 (53.7%), held a 45-30 edge on the glass, and knocked down 12 of their 25 three-point bids. 

Coast Guard's Noah Baldez scored a team-best 18 points, Packy Witkowski added 17 points and seven boards, and Justin Kane tallied 11 pionts and nine caroms.  The visitors were 28-for-69 (41%), but just 3-of-13 (23%) from downtown. 

Both teams were tremendously efficient on the offensive side of the ball to begin the contest, combining to make 9 of their first 12 attempts.  Springfield was able to open up a 13-8 lead at the 15:22 mark after a pair of freebies from Earle, only to have Coast Guard climb back to 17-14 on a inside finish by Noah Baldez with 12:08 on the clock.  However, Springfield answered right back, manufacuting a 9-0 run in a little over a minute, getting consecutive triples from McNulty to force the visitors into a timeout trailing 26-14.  The Pride's advantage drew to 17 on another triple from Earle for a 38-21 cushion with 6:08 on the clock, but the Bears would made one more push, using a 7-2 burst to make it 40-28 on a bucket from Kane at the 3:56 mark.  The Pride would regain control of the contest, scoring eight-straight points as McNulty pulled up for a three with the shot clock winding down for a 48-28 lead with 1:22 remaining.  Springfield would go into the break with a 50-32 edge, thanks to some incredible offensive production, with the hosts shooting 20-for-31 (64.5%) and 7-for-12 (58.3%) from deep. 

Coast Guard pulled within 14 at 57-43 with 15:23 left in regulation on a layup by Bryce Schroeder, but the Pride snuffed out the rally with an 11-2 push over the next two-plus minutes, getting seven points from Ross to open up a 68-45 lead.  The hosts lead would not dip below 19 and balloon to as many as 28 points on three occasions, the last coming on a Witter bucket in the lane with under a minute to play.

The Pride is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Emerson at 6 pm.