MIT lost its first game to a DIII opponent this afternoon, falling to Wheaton College 60-57. MIT trailed for most of the afternoon, but took a 4 point with under 5 minutes in the contest before going cold and handing over the lead in the final 1.5 minutes of the game. Will Tashmen had a strong afternoon for the Engineers, scoring 15 points on 6-8 shooting, also adding 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Billy Bender also played well with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Mitchell Kates also added 15 points.
The game was close the first 12 minutes of the game, with neither team leading by more then 5 points. Wheaton then went on a 17-8 run to stretch the lead to 10 with 3 minutes to play in the first half. MIT would answer, however, finishing the half on a 7-0 run to enter the break down 3, 31-34.
MIT again started cold in the second frame, allowing 7 straight points by Wheaton in the first 3 minutes of the half. Again the Engineers rallied, going on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 40-41 with under 12 minutes to play. The teams went back and forth over the next few minutes, until MIT took their first lead, 54-52, with under 6 minutes to play. MIT would increase the lead to 4 on their next posession, but went cold from their, not scoring over a decisive 4.5 minute span that ended in a layup by Mitchell Kates with :24 seconds left. MIT had a chance to send the game to overtime, but a three pointer by Billy Bender was off the mark and Wheaton secured the rebound to take the win, 60-57.
MIT is on the road next week in two conference matchups. MIT drops to 16-2 (4-1 NEWMAC). They still hold the top spot in the NEWMAC, though, as Springfield fell to WPI today (both teams are now 3-2 in conference).
