WORCESTER -- Bruce Saintilus (Plainville, MA) netted 20 points and Kekoa McArdle (Pittsfield, MA) posted a double-double to help Clark snap a 25-game losing streak to visiting WPI as the Cougars defeated the Engineers 73-69 in a showdown between undefeated NEWMAC men's basketball teams on Thursday evening. 

With the triumph, Clark moves to 12-3 on the season and 6-0 in conference play while WPI slips to 11-3 overall and 4-1 in NEWMAC action.   The victory was the first in the series for the hosts in 14 years dating back to the 2010 NEWMAC Tournament championship game at MIT and snapped the Engineers 26-game regular season winning streak in the series. 

Michael O'Brien (New York, NY) buried a 3-pointer with 3:59 to go to put Clark up eight at 69-61.   Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, CA) and the WPI defense tried to will the Engineers back into the contest as the junior scored on three of WPI's next four possessions while the Crimson and Gray forced three turnovers and record a block shot to inch back to two at 69-67 with a minute to go but an Isaiah Taylor (Methuen, MA) 15-foot jumper and a pair of O'Brien free throws in the final 20 seconds to hold off the guests. 

Saintilus canned 7-of-14 shots from field and 5-of-6 free throws on his way to 20 points on the night.  McArdle dodged foul trouble to finish with 15 points and 13 rebounds while O'Brien tossed in 23 points. 

Sevilla excelled for WPI, leading all scorers with a season-best 23 points, including 3-of-6 on trifectas.  Oddly enough, the senior's career-high of 25 was last season at the Kneller Athletic Center versus the Cougars.  John Adams (Douglas, MA) was 6-of-9 from the floor on his way to 15 points while Aidan Callahan (Rowley, MA) netted 14 points and a game-high six assists and J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) led all players with four steals. 

The matchup featured the NEWMAC's top scoring offense in the Cougars (82.7 ppg) and the league's top defense in the Engineers (56.1 ppg) and it seemed as if the hosts were going to get the style of game that best suited them as they jumped out to a 6-0 advantage as WPI misfired on its first four possessions while Clark went 3-for-4 on its first three possessions and grabbed the game's first five rebounds.  

The Crimson and Gray regrouped and settled in before embarking upon a 16-2 spurt to transform a six-point deficit into a 24-16 edge with 5:19 to go before the half.  The WPI defense held the Cougars to just one basket in nine tries during the uprising while draining 7-of-9 field goals themselves.  Adams and Sevilla spearheaded the run by combining for nine points.  Clark used a pair of baskets in the final minute before intermission, including a tough 15-foot fade away by Saintilus to beat the buzzer and get the Cougars back to with five at 30-25. 

The second half started a lot like the opening 20 minutes with Clark draining its first three shots from the floor en route to scoring 13 of the stanza's first 16 points.  Kekoa McArdle (Pittsfield, MA) and Saintilus each netted five points as the Cougars surged ahead 38-33 just 3:15 after intermission.  The lead was just a single point with just over nine minutes remaining, but the hosts rattled off eight straight, including a pair of 3-pointers from Ian Calabrese (Simsbury, CT) to gain its largest bulge of the game at 59-50. 

Both teams continue NEWMAC play with road games on Saturday.  WPI heads to Springfield for a 7pm matchup with the Pride in a game that will be played at Western New England while Clark ventures to Cambridge to tangle with MIT at 3pm.