CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT shook off a cold shooting first half with a solid offensive effort in the second half to down the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 70-52, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball game. Senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) led the Engineers with 21 points, with freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) recording a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Coast Guard saw sophomore Ethan Boose (New Philadelphia, Ohio) also record a double-double, leading the Bears with 15 points and 10 boards. 

Cold shooting hindered both teams in the first half, with both offenses connecting at just a 30 percent clip. The result was a tight affair over the first 20 minutes, with score tied four times and the lead changing hands on three occasions. Coast Guard (7-6, 1-2 NEWMAC) saw its biggest lead come in the opening minutes when the Bears sored the first two baskets of the game, taking a 4-0 lead on a steal and layup by senior Kevin Alvarez (Key Biscayne, Fla.) two and a half minutes in.

MIT (10-3, 2-1 NEWMAC) came back to tie the score at 4-4 on a basket from senior Lampros Tsontzos (Amarousion, Greece), and the game stayed within three points until the five minute mark of the half. Trailing by a pair, the Engineers went on a 9-0 run that was started by a three by Pedley. A layup by freshman Tim Roberts (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) gave MIT a 23-16 lead, but Coast Guard came back to make it a 25-22 game at the half on a jump shot in the final 30 seconds by sophomore Darius Adams (Nassau, Bahamas).

Pedley hit a pair of threes in the opening minutes of the second half to give MIT its biggest lead of the night at 30-22. Alvarez answered with a three for Coast Guard, but the Engineers, who shot 50 percent in the final 20 minutes, picked up another pair of threes from Pedley that closed out a 14-2 run to make it 41-27 with 15:52 left.

MIT was never threatened again as Coast Guard could not recover from the run. The closest the Bears would get was 11 points at 46-35 after Alvarez dropped in another pair of points with 12:50 left, but MIT came back with a 7-2 spurt that put the game away.

Senior Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) also reached double figures for MIT, scoring 10 points while leading all players with eight assists. Alvarez was the second-highest scorer for Coast Guard, finishing with nine points and leading his team with three assists. For the game MIT held Coast Guard to 27.7 percent shooting and scored 12 points off of 17 Bear turnovers.

MIT will play at home again in its next outing, with the Engineers hosting Springfield College in a NEWMAC matchup at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 16.