THE BASICS:
- Score: No. 5 MIT 96, Keene State 76
- Records: No. 5 MIT (3-1), Keene State (2-2)
- Location: Keene, N.H. (Spaulding Gymnasium)
- The Lead: Led by four players in double figures and the 1,000th career point from senior AJ Jurko (Weston, Fla.), the No. 5 MIT men's basketball team pulled away for a 96-76 road win over Keene State College on Saturday afternoon. Jurko is the 29th player in MIT men's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark and joins teammate Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) in that group.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- MIT led wire-to-wire as Jurko nailed a three-pointer on the first possession for the 3-0 advantage. Another Jurko three just 2:37 into the game made it a double-digit margin at 14-4 and the Engineers led by as many in the opening half and by a 50-31 score at the half. That three was the third of the game by Jurko and was the shot where he broke the 1,000-point barrier.
- MIT held a comfortable advantage in the second half, including a 69-50 margin midway through the period following a three-pointer by senior Dakota Pierce (Thousand Oaks, Calif.). The Owls cut the lead down to 11 with 7:55 remaining after a three-point play by Jordan Haywood, but the Engineers answered with a quick 5-0 run to stretch the lead back out.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Senior Tim Roberts (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) was outstanding again as he led the team with a 26-point, nine-rebound, six-assist performance. He narrowly missed his third double-double of the season and his seventh in his last nine games dating back to last season.
- Jurko finished the game with 21 points, six assists and five steals to go along with 18 points from sophomore Ian Hinkley (Raleigh, N.C.) and 14 points and six assists by Jomard. MIT also registered 27 assists on 36 made field goals and forced 20 Keene State turnovers.
- Ty Nichols led the Owls with 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting, followed by a 22-point effort by James Anozie. Keene also shot very well from the field at 53.8 percent while turning MIT over 20 times.
- The Engineers shot 62.1 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from three-point land and converted on 80 percent of their free throws.
- This is the first time since the 2011-12 season that the Engineers have surpassed the 90-point mark in back-to-back games, as well as the highest-scoring two-game stretch by the team since the 1989-90 season.
- MIT is ranked No. 5 in the 2018-19 D3Hoops.com Preseason National Poll following an appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight last year.
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back home on Thursday, November 29th as the Engineers host Pine Manor College for a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup at Rockwell Cage.
STAY CONNECTED:
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