CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A pair of free throws by freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) with one second on the clock was the difference, enabling MIT to come away with a 63-61 men's basketball win over Rhode Island College. Senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) led a balanced scoring attack for the Engineers with 19 points, including scoring his 1,000th career point on a three-point shot in the second half. Freshman Jimmy Fritzson (Sharon, Mass.) led all players with 20 points for the Anchormen.
Jomard tied the game on at 61-all with 1:40 left when put back his own miss for MIT (7-2). A layup attempt by Rhode Island College (1-9) was blocked by freshman Adam Jurko (Weston, Fla.) and the two teams then traded turnovers, with MIT gaining possession with 52 seconds remaining. An Anchorman foul with 29 seconds left gave MIT the opportunity to hold the ball for the last shot, which Pedley took as time was winding down. He missed and Jomard grabbed the rebound and was fouled on his put back attempt with one tick left, setting up his game-winning free throws.
It was all MIT at the start of the contest, as the Engineers held Rhode Island College scoreless for five minutes and raced out to a 13-0 lead on a trey by Jomard. The Anchormen continued to struggle with their offense and MIT stayed hot, building a 29-11 lead after a three-point play by Pedley at the 6:08 mark. MIT still led by 14 points with three minutes left, but a pair of threes by Fritzson in the final minutes helped the Anchormen cut it to 10 points at 37-27 at the half.
Rhode Island College opened the second half with a steal and an ensuing dunk by freshman Justin Campbell (New Haven, Conn.) and it ignited a 13-2 run to that gave the Anchormen their first lead of the game. Sophomore Roosevelt Shider (Meriden, Conn.) capped the run by dropping in a long-range shot just four minutes into the half putting his team on top, 40-39.
It stayed close the rest of the way. MIT came back from the early run and went on top by four at 46-42 when Pedley drained a three, but Rhode Island College answered, moving back in front by a point when Shider converted on a four-point play. The lead changed hands two more times before the Engineers moved back in front by five on a jumper from Jurko.
MIT still led by five with 5:32 to go when Fritzson and sophomore Chris Green (Taunton, Mass.) hit back-to-back threes to put the Anchormen back on top 60-59 with 3:41 left. A free throw from Campbell made it a two-point game, but a minute later Jomard put in the equalizer off his miss to set up the final seconds of the game.
Jomard ended up with his first career double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Jurko added 15 points and five assists, with freshman Tim Roberts (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) also reaching double figures with 11 points. Green reached double figures for Rhode Island College, finishing with 17, with freshman Jason Jones (Roxbury, Mass.) leading the Anchormen with nine boards.
MIT will play its last game before the break for the holidays on Saturday when the Engineers will play at Newbury College at 7:00 p.m.