NEW LONDON, Conn. – Coast Guard held MIT without a field goal for the final eight minutes of the game outscoring the Engineers 15-4 in that span en route to a 62-53 upset win on Senior Day, the final home game of the season, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
MIT took a 49-47 lead on a basket by sophomore Will Tashman with 8:16 left, but that would be the last basket the Engineers would score as they managed just four free throws, all by Tashman, in the final eight minutes of the game.
Coast Guard took the lead for good, 51-50 on a free throw by freshman Kevin Sowers with 6:01 left. Sophomore Jimmy Knudsen and Sowers added back to back buckets to give the Bears a 55-50 lead with 4:53 left.
Tashman made one of two free throws with 53 seconds left, the Engineers final point of the game, to make the score 58-53, but Coast Guard made four of six free throws to close the scoring and snap a season-long five-game losing streak.
Coast Guard led by as many as seven at 11-4 in the first half, but MIT scored eight straight for its first lead of the game 12-11 with 11:59 left. The Engineers led 30-28 at the break.
It was trio of freshmen scoring in double figures that led the Bears to a win on Senior Day as Devonte Weems had a game-high 17 points. Sowers added 13 points and John Benedict chipped in with 10 points off the bench. Senior Jevon James had a game-high 12 rebounds moving him into ninth place on the Bears all-time list with 654 rebounds.
Tashman finished with a double-double leading MIT with 16 points and 10 rebounds. No other MIT player had more than five points. Junior Jamie Karraker, who leads the NEWMAC with 79 three-pointers, was held to just four points and no trifectas.
Coast Guard shot 38.9 percent (21-54) while MIT shot 42.9 percent (18-42) from the floor. The Bears made just one of six from 3-point range while the Engineers connected on five of 18 from behind the arc.
MIT turned the ball over 21 times while the Bears turned it over just 10 times, their second lowest of the season.
The Engineers drop to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play while the Bears improve to 9-13 overall and 4-7 in the NEWMAC. Coast Guard can clinch a berth in the NEWMAC tournament with the right combination of games before they take the court in their regular season finale at Wheaton College on February 19. MIT will close out the season with a pair of home games, beginning with a 6:00 p.m. contest with Wheaton on Wednesday, February 16.
Release Courtesy of Coast Guard Sports Information