CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT shot 55 percent from the floor, placed four starters in double figures, and never trailed as the Engineers rolled past Springfield College, 73-57, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball game this afternoon. Freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) scored 22 points and senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) recorded his second career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead MIT to the victory. Senior Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) led the Pride with 23 points.
Springfield (4-10, 1-3 NEWMAC) started the game 0-for-8 from the field and MIT (11-3, 3-1 NEWMAC) took advantage by jumping out to a 7-0 lead on a three from Pedley. The Engineers' defense continued to hold the Pride in check, and they increased their lead to 16-4 after a layup by senior Lampros Tsontzos (Amarousion, Greece) seven and a half minutes in.
Springfield made a bid to get back in it, scoring five straight midway through the half to pull back within seven at 18-11 on a layup by senior Quinn McKenna (Litchfield, Conn.). It proved to be as close as the Pride would get the rest of the way as MIT answered with six straight to push its advantage to 24-11 on a Jomard lay-in. An offensive rebound and put back by senior Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) had Springfield back within 10 with 6:50 left, but the Engineers outscored the Pride 12-6 the rest of the way to take a 36-21 lead at the half.
Jomard and freshman Adam Jurko (Weston, Fla.) combined to score the first six points of the second half to push the MIT advantage beyond 20 points and the Engineers were never seriously threatened after that. Springfield managed to whittle its deficit down to 11 points with less than seven minutes left when Downes hit a jumper, but MIT held the Pride there and pushed its lead back to 16 points on a pair of free throws by senior Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) with 2:50 left to put the game away.
Jomard's 22 points was the third time in the last four games he has reached the 20-point mark, with the 22 points setting a new season high. Jurko finished 7-for-7 from the free throw line on his way to a 17-point, six-rebound afternoon for MIT, with Tsontzos finishing with 12 points. McKenna came off the bench to score nine points, hand out three assists and make a pair of steals for Springfield. Piretra led the Pride with nine rebounds.
MIT will take on the NEWMAC's first-place team, Babson College, on the road in its next outing, taking on the Beavers on Wednesday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m.