Nighthawks Defense Holds Engineers to Season Low

Cambridge, Mass. – The Newbury College men's basketball team held a high-powered MIT line-up to their fewest point total of the season as the 20^th ranked Engineers earned their fifth win with the 61-53 comeback victory. Coming into the contest, MIT averaged 78 points per game and shut out opponents in their previous four victories by an average of 27 points.

An 8-8 stalemate five minutes into the contest quickly evaporated, due to outstanding defense by the Nighthawks. Sophomore Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) sparked the 9-0 run for Newbury netting both of his free throws after being fouled by Engineers junior Billy Bender (Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands College Park). After ripping down a three-point attempt by sophomore Mitchell Kates (Colts Neck, N.J./Phillips Exeter Academy), Torres found senior John Rowley (Hartford, Conn./Rockville) under the basket for the bucket and the foul. Rowley convert the three-point play as the Nighthawks took a five point lead.

The Nighthawks outplayed the Engineers for the majority of the first half, outscoring MIT 10-8 on points off turnovers and 8-2 on fast-break points. Fellow Brockton native and sophomore Timothy Young (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) recorded three steals during the nine point run that lasted just over a minute. Newbury's lead grew to 11 on a pair of free throws by Rowley but MIT was not going away.

With just two minutes left in the half, the Engineers cut the deficit down to two on a Bender three point jumper. Young pushed the lead back to five but it would be the last points for Newbury in the half as MIT went on 15-3 run to go into the locker room with the four-point, 38-34 advantage.

The Engineer lead swelled to eight points in the second half before the Nighthawks begin to chip away, cutting the deficit to four but never came back to re-gain the lead in the second. MIT outscored Newbury 23-19 in the half as freshman Will Dickson (Dallas, Texas/St. Mark's School) tallied a game-high 18 points in the victory. Sophomore Will Tashman (Atherton, Calif./Menlo School) followed up with 15 points

Despite the loss, Rowley and Torres led the Nighthawk offense in double figures. Rowley finished the game tallying a team-high 16 points while Torre added 12 points of his own.

The loss drops Newbury to 0-6 on the season while MIT improves to 5-1. The Nighthawks return to the hard-court this weekend when they tip-off against Curry College on Saturday at 7:00pm in Milton, Mass. 

- Game photo by: Samantha Yanofsky