THE BASICS:

- Score: MIT 88, Clark 71

- Records: MIT (13-11); Clark (18-8)

- Location: Worcester, Mass. (Kneller Athletic Center)

- The Lead: Led by 76 percent shooting from the field in the first half and a game-high 26 points from senior Ian Hinkley (Raleigh, N.C.), the No. 5 seeded MIT men's basketball team advanced to the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals with an 88-71 road victory over Clark University in the first round on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- The Engineers jumped out to an 11-2 start over the first four minutes, capped by a Hinkley layup. The lead swelled to double digits at 19-8 on a Hinkley three moments later and grew to as many as 15 on two occasions in the opening half, both on Hinkley three pointers. With the Engineers up 46-31 with 3:08 on the clock, the Cougars closed the period on an 8-2 run that was capped by a Tyler Davern three to make it 48-39 at the half.

- Hinkley came out on fire to start the second half and knocked down a trio of three-pointers over the first 4:18 as the lead was extended to 22 at 63-41. Clark cut the lead back down to 15 twice, including at 77-62 with 6:15 remaining after a three-point play from Bruce Saintilus. The visitors answered with a quick 10-0 run to put the game out of reach, en route to the 17-point victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

- In 39 minutes of play, Hinkley finished with 26 points, six rebounds, two blocks and three steals as he was 7-of-9 from three-point land. Senior Giannis Chatziveroglou (Athens, Greece) added 22 points and a game-high seven assists while shooting 8-for-11 from the field. Junior Alex Cho (San Diego, Calif.) and senior Dan Pilsbury (Millington, N.J.) each added 13 points for the Engineers, along with 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench by sophomore Charles Rich (Holladay, Utah).

- For the game, MIT shot a blistering 62.2 percent from the field, including 76.1 percent in the opening half. For the game, MIT finished with 21 assists on 28 made field goals, forced 20 Clark turnovers and outrebounded the hosts by a narrow 26-25 margin.

- Davern led the Cougars with a 21-point effort in the loss, along with 20 points from Isaiah Taylor before he fouled out late.

UP NEXT:

- The Engineers now advance to the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals on Thursday, February 24th as the team will take on top-seeded and No. 14 ranked WPI in a 7 p.m. start at Harrington Auditorium.

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