BOSTON, Mass. – Juniors Matt Redfield (Los Altos, Calif.) and Andrew Acker (Merion Station, Pa.) scored 17 and 16 points apiece to lead the MIT men's basketball team to a 70-46 non-conference victory over Emmanuel College. Acker completed his team-leading 10th double-double of the season with 10 rebounds as the Engineers won their second straight game.
A Redfield slam opened the scoring in the contest, but Emmanuel (4-13) used three pointers from Josh Welles and John Clay to fuel a 9-2 run that put the Saints up 9-4 after Brandon Jones hit one of two free throws at the 15:37 mark. Acker hit a layup to cut the Emmanuel lead down to three points, but MIT (13-4) went scoreless for nearly three minutes after that, with Clay hitting on a pair of shots in that span to build the Saints advantage to 13-6.
A three-pointer from sophomore Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) started MIT on the comeback trail and the Engineers tied things up at 13-all after baskets from Acker and Redfield. Emmanuel went back up by four, but MIT came back to tie it twice more over the next several minutes, and when Acker converted a three-point play with 8:19 left to play in the half the Engineers had their first lead since the opening minutes at 20-19.
Acker's conversion started a 13-0 run by MIT that took up most of the rest of the half. Pedley added another trey and sophomore Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) drained a three-pointer with 2:35 left to put MIT up 30-19. His free throw in the final minute kept the lead at 11 as the Engineers took a 34-23 lead at the half.
Jones opened the second half scoring with a free throw for Emmanuel, but MIT came back with seven straight points and took a 40-24 lead after a three by freshman Dakota Pierce (Thousand Oaks, Calif.). Kyle Smith answered Pierce with a three for Emmanuel, but the Saints could carve any more out of the MIT lead.
With 14 minutes left Emmanuel got a pair of free throws from Welles to cut the lead to 14, but junior Dennis Levene (Weston, Conn.) drained a long-range shot that jump started a 13-2 MIT run that put the game away for the Engineers. The MIT defense held Emmanuel to just 1-for-6 shooting over a five-minute stretch as the Engineers stretched its advantage to 58-34 on a Pierce free throw with 8:26 left.
Emmanuel could not get closer than 22 points the rest of the way as the Engineers cruised home with the victory. MIT out shot Emmanuel 43.1 to 33.3 percent and held a 38-34 advantage on the boards. The Saints did not have a player reach double figures in scoring, with Welles and Clay leading the team with nine points apiece. Clay led all players in the game with 11 rebounds.
MIT will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday when the Engineers will host Wheaton College at 7:00 p.m. Emmanuel will also return to action on Wednesday as the Saints travel to Maine to take on St. Joseph's College at 7:00 p.m.