MIT surged past Ithaca in the final minutes, capturing an 82-78 win this evening in Ithaca, NY, over the host Bombers. MIT trailed by 4 points with 5 minutes remaining, but a Jamie Karraker 3 followed by a Will Tashman bucket put the Engineers on top with 3:14 to play. The teams would trade baskets over the next 2.5 minutes, until a layup by Ithaca put the Bombers ahead by 1 with 41 seconds to play. On MIT's next possession, the Engineers would recapture the lead behind a strong take from Mitchell Kates. MIT would then hit their FTs down the stretch to close out the game.
MIT was led by their sophomore trifecta of Karraker, Kates, and Tashman. Kates and Karraker were the high scorers for MIT with 25 points a piece. In addition to his scoring tally, Kates also dished out 7 assists, had 4 steals, and 4 boards. Tashman had his third consecutive post-season double-double with 16 points and 10 boards, in addition to 5 assists. Also playing strong for MIT was Billy Bender, who added 12 points and 8 boards. MIT had a season low 5 turnovers, while forcing 12, and shot 93% from the FT line.
Ithaca led by as many as 10 points in the first half, before a furious run by MIT, led by 8 points from Kates and two 3s from Karraker, tied the game at 46 at the half. MIT would come out of the break hot, building an 8 point lead over the first 7 minutes of the half, but Ithaca would not quit. A 16-4 run over the next 8 minutes would give the Bombers the lead back, but then MIT would go on their run to close out the game and take the win.
Full game recap and boxscore can be found at the official MIT Athletics website.
MIT advances to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament to face Rochester, the UAA champions this season. The game will also be played in Ithaca, NY. Tip is schedule for 7:00 PM, with audio available for the game.
