Worcester, Mass. – Host Clark University raced out to a commanding 15-0 lead and never looked back in rolling to an 89-47 win over Coast Guard in New England Men's And Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday evening.
The 42-point margin of victory for the Cougars is their largest since a 44-point win over Brandeis University back on November 27, 2001.
Clark now sits at 12-10 overall and 6-3 in league play, while the Bears have now dropped 18 consecutive games to slip to 1-19.
The Cougars set season-highs in points (89), three-pointers (12), rebounds (52) and assists (22).
Coast Guard meanwhile, struggled offensively all night, opening the game making just one of their first 12 field goal attempts.
Clark shot a blistering 55 percent from the field, including going 17-for-27 (63 percent) in the second half.
With the score 15-0, the Bears finally got on the board as Greg Marshall converted an inside hoop at the 13:42 mark, pushing him over the 1,000-point barrier and becoming the 19th player in school history to accomplish the feat.
The Cougar offense, meanwhile, kept clicking as they kickstarted an 18-7 run highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Jake Gubitose (Fiskdale, Mass.) that made the score 33-9 with less than five minutes to play.
After going into halftime ahead, 40-16, Clark erased any thoughts of Coast Guard comeback with a 20-9 bust to start the second stanza that saw a dunk from D.J. Bailey (Palmer, Mass.), three-pointers from Marcus Armstrong (Malden, Mass.), Nicholas DaPrato(Marshfield, Mass.) and Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, Mass.) and a baseline jumper from Tyler Veretto (South Windsor, Conn.).
When the dust settled, Clark had a 60-25 edge that eventually ballooned to as many as 43 at 86-43 when the Ryan Early (Centerville, Mass.) setup Corey Gomes (Uxbridge, Mass.) for a short jumper with 1:39 to play.
Vayda led all scorers with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists on 5-for-6 shooting in just 18 minutes, while Bailey (12 points, seven rebounds), Veretto (12 points, eight rebounds) and DaPrato (ten points, five rebounds) all added double figure performances as well.
The Bears were paced by Jimmy Knudsen (Ridge, N.Y.), who scored all ten of his points in the second half. Ryan McNeil (Plymouth, Ind.) chipped in with nine points, while Marshall added eight of his own. David Anderson (Goose Creek, S.C.) hauled in a game-high ten boards.
The win for the Cougars equals their win total from a season ago and assures them of a home game in the NEWMAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 20. However, now guaranteed at least the number four seed, Clark could secure a bye into the conference semifinals. The Cougars are tied with Springfield in the league standings (6-3) and visit the Pride next Wednesday. Also ahead for Clark is Saturday's visit to MIT.
Coast Guard returns to action on Saturday when they host Wheaton at 3:00 p.m.