MIT TOPPLES SAINTS, 70-46

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Men's Basketball Team suffered a 70-46 non-conference loss to MIT on Monday night in the Jean Yawkey Center.  The Engineers improved to 13-4 on the season with the win, while the Saints fell to 4-13 overall with the loss. Over the ten-game series between these two programs, the Engineers have now gone 9-1 against the Saints.

The hosts played well in the early-going, charging out to an 11-6 lead.  During the early run, the Saints were powered by the strong play of sophomore John Clay (Westport, Mass.), who sunk two put-backs and a three-ball in the opening minutes.  MIT struggled offensively, shooting just 28% (4-14) through the first eight minutes of action.

The tides would turn, however, as the Engineers went on a 7-2 run, capped with a fast-break dunk by Matt Redfield (Los Altos, Calif.) at the 11-minute mark to tie the game at 13-all.  After a turn-around jumper by Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Rookie of the Week Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.), the Engineers responded with an old-fashioned three-point play from Andrew Acker (Merion Station, Pa.) to give MIT the lead at 20-19 with eight minutes to go in the half.

Justin Pedley (Kennewick, Wash.) drained a second-chance three from the top of the key to put MIT out in front 25-19 with four minutes left.  Another three-ball, this time by Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y.) extended the MIT run to 10, pushing the spread to 30-19 at the two-minute mark.

The first half ended with the Engineers up, 34-23, backed by 10 points from Acker. After an early hot streak, the Saints cooled down shooting just 34.5% from the floor in the half. Clay led the Saints with 9 points and 7 rebounds, as the hosts bested MIT on the glass, 20-16 in the first period.

The Engineers came out of the break firing on all cylinders, increasing their lead to 15 in the first 4 minutes of play. The visitors' intensity did not let up, as they pushed their advantage over twenty points at 52-31 after a pair of free throws by Acker with just under 13 minutes to play.

A jumper from EC's freshman forward Lyndon Harewood (Brooklyn, N.Y.) ended a 13-3 Engineer run mid-way through the half, as the Saints trailed 57-34.  The Engineers maintained their commanding lead through the next four minutes of play going up by 24 points, after an and-one by David Bender (The Woodlands, Texas).   MIT went up by as many as 27 points in the waning moments, but Carder Chatey (Ashford, Conn.) came off the bench and dialed in from downtown to set the final score at 70-46, Engineers.

Redfield finished with a game-high 17 points, connecting on 8 of his 9 attempts from the floor.  Acker recorded a double-double effort of 16 points and 10 boards, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field.  Frankel and Dakota Pierce (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) chipped in with 9 and 8 points, respectively, in the win.

Emmanuel was led by Clay's 9 first-half points and game-high 11 rebounds.  Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.) added 9 points and dished out 3 assists, while Smith finished with 8 points in the effort.

MIT will host Wheaton College on Wednesday, when the Engineers return to NEWMAC action in their 7:00 PM start.  Emmanuel also plays Wednesday, as the Saints travel to Saint Joseph's College in Standish, Maine for a 7:00 PM GNAC match-up with the Monks.