BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the MIT men's basketball team to a 67-49 victory at Emerson College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest. The Engineers broke open the game in the second half when they outscored the Lions by 14 points.

MIT (19-5, 10-3 NEWMAC) was ahead for most of the first nine minutes of the game, but not by much, with the Engineers gaining a four-point advantage three times, including at 11:34 when a jumper by freshman Tim Roberts (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) gave MIT a 13-9 lead. Emerson (10-14, 5-8 NEWMAC) came back, reeling off 10 consecutive points to take a 19-13 lead on a layup from senior Brian Hurley (South Boston, Mass.). 

Threes by senior Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) and Frankel erased the Emerson lead and another long-range shot by freshman Cameron Korb (Los Gatos, Calif.) put MIT back on top. The Engineers got it back to a four-point lead when Frankel hit on a layup with five minutes left in the half, and the lead stayed at four at halftime as senior Lampros Tsontzos (Amarousion, Greece) scored with 22 seconds left to give MIT a 30-26 lead.

MIT opened the second half on an 8-2 spurt to open a 10-point lead, but Emerson fought back and cut its deficit to six points at 38-32 when senior Tyson Hallowell (Lincoln, Mass.) connected on a layup with 14:25 to play. The Lions stayed within striking distance, and still trailed by only six at the midway point of the half when sophomore Michael Sheng (Altadena, Calif.) drained a three-point shot.

Ahead by six with 6:25 left, MIT put the game away with an 8-0 run over the next four minutes. Frankel started the stretch with a layup and Tsontzos finished it with another while the Engineers came up with four turnovers and held Emerson to 0-for-3 shooting to take a 57-43 lead. From there MIT put the finishing touches on the win by hitting 12-of-14 free throws over the final two minutes.

Frankel matched his season-high with his 20-point outing, going 9-for-10 from the free throw line and handing out a team-high five assists. Freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) scored 14 points, pulled down nine rebounds and came up with four steals for the Engineers, who shot 43.5 percent from the floor. Korb reached double figures for the first time in his career, finishing with 10 points.

Senior Sean Duffy (Berwyn, Pa.) was the only player in double figures for Emerson, finishing with 12. Senior Michael Thorpe (Newton, Mass.) added nine points and five assists for the Lions, with senior Austin Pinckney (Miami, Fla.) leading his team with seven rebounds to go with his seven points.

MIT will close out its regular season on Saturday when it hosts first-place Babson College in Rockwell Cage at 2:00 p.m.