Engineers Overpower Wheelock 81-51

Box Score

The MIT Engineers ended the first semester in fine fashion Saturday afternoon, taking down Wheelock College 81-51 to end the slate 8-2 and on a 5-game win-streak. The Engineers shot 56% from the field, 47% from three, dished out 25 assists, and out-rebounded the Wildcats by 29.

Head Coach Larry Anderson earned his 279th win on Saturday. He is 120-33 in the last 6 seasons (Pic: Tom Gearty)

6'8" Junior co-captain Andrew Acker stuffed the stat sheet again with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 block. 6'6" Sophomores Justin Pedley and Russell Johnson put on quite a show, with Pedley posting 20 points with four three-pointers and Johnson netting career-highs of 16 points, 16 rebounds, and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. 6'10" Sophomore Lampros Tsontzos had a career-high game as well with 12 points and 9 rebounds going 6-of-7 from the field.

6'10" Lampros Tsontzos from Greece with the lay-up (Pic: Tom Gearty)

The SLAMBLOCKULATOR was also in full effect on Saturday afternoon, with Freshman Tim Butala and Garrett House throwing down two hammer fast-break dunks.

6'8" Freshman Tim Butala adds one to the SLAMBLOCKULATOR (Pic: Tom Gearty)

In his post-game email to friends, family, and alums of the program, Coach Anderson spoke about the first semester and the upcoming weeks ahead: "I was pleased to finish the first portion of the season heading into finals week on a positive note. The effort put forth by our student-athletes in the final push of the fall semester was admirable.  Now it’s time for them to turn their full attention to their academic pursuits, final exams and projects.  In the classroom is where our student-athletes really shine.  It’s the place where they make us proudest.  We will be right here to support them 100%."  

The Engineers head into the break 8-2 (Pic: Tom Gearty)

MIT takes on Clark University January 8th in Rockwell Cage. 

Game Preview: MIT vs. Wheelock

MIT vs. Wheelock College
Saturday, Rockwell Cage, 1pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (7-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Wheelock (0-7)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Tim Butala	6'8"	2.0	1.8		Joe Reedy	6'3"	13.5	7.8
Andrew Acker	6'8"	11.0	8.9		Anthony Williams	6'2"	13.4	7.0
Dennis Levene	6'8"	5.8	5.2		Derek Fournier	6'2"	10.3	5.0
Justin Pedley	6'6"	15.0	1.4		Rashaan Powell	5'10"	7.9	2.0
Paul Dawson	5'10"	5.4	4.6 apg		Nicholas Fenton	5'10"	7.9	5.7 apg

A Look at Wheelock:
The Wheelock Wildcats will head into The Cage on Saturday night with a talented young roster that boasts four underclassmen starters. The Engineers will need increased focus defending the dribble drive and must continue to limit their turnovers in their quest to become a more efficient offense attack.

Wheelock is another team that likes to get out and run on their opponent's turnovers and misses, with Fenton leading the break and making plays. In the half-court Williams and Reedy will look to post hard, while on the perimeter the guards will run a dribble-drive offense with a lot of dribble hand-offs. Fournier is a deadly shooter from the perimeter, and the Wildcats will run a few sets to get him open.

MIT again must continue to limit their turnovers while utilizing their size. Versus Newbury the Engineers got hot from three in the second-half, which allowed for a dominant inside-out game.

Tune in at half-time for MITHoop.NET's in-game analysis.

NEWMAC's Strong Performance in New England Region

The NEWMAC and NESCAC conferences sit atop the rankings for highest overall conference winning percentage in the extremely competitive New England region (games played through 12/10). There are currently ten New England teams receiving votes for the Top 25 national poll, more than any other region. 

Conference	Overall Winning %
NESCAC	.716
NEWMAC	.708
LEC	.615
CCC	.438
GNAC	.418
NAC	.413
NECC	.391
MASCAC	.321

Region	# Teams Receiving Top 25 Votes
New England	10
West	8
Great Lakes	8
South	8
Middle Atlantic	8
MidWest	7
East	2
Atlantic	1

Engineers Topple Nighthawks 71-53

Box Score

Despite not having their leading scorer and leading rebounder Matt Redfield, the Engineers earned their fourth win in a row and seventh win of the season with the 71-53 decision over Newbury College tonight.

MIT shot 52% from the field, 50% from three, dished out 19 assists, and out-rebounded Newbury 43-20.

Sophomore Ryan Frankel nailed three three-pointers in a career-high performance (Pic: Tom Gearty)

Leading the way for the Engineers was 6'6" Sophomore Justin Pedley, connecting on four three-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points. Fellow Sophomore Ryan Frankel netted a career-high 17 points along with 5 assists to pace the Engineers at the point guard position. Down low 6'8" Junior co-captains Dennis Levene and Andrew Acker were dominant, combining for 27 points, 21 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.

Junior co-captain Dennis Levene put up 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists (Pic: Tom Gearty)

MIT moves to 7-2 on the season, and will close out the first semester this Saturday versus Wheelock College.

Game Preview: MIT vs. Newbury College

MIT vs. Newbury College
Monday, Hellenic College, 6pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (6-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Newbury (0-8)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	13.9	9.8		Cameron Owen	6'7"	5.5	3.4
Andrew Acker	6'8"	10.6	8.8		Adam James	6'4"	5.1	4.4
Dennis Levene	6'8"	4.9	4.5		Ceejae Carter	6'2"	2.6	1.2
Justin Pedley	6'6"	14.4	1.5		Eric Watson	6'2"	16.8	5.4
Paul Dawson	5'10"	5.9	5.1 apg		Milciades Carrasco	5'11"	11.1	0.8 apg

A Look at Newbury:
The Nighthawks of Newbury College are coming off one of their best seasons in the past five years with a conference (NECC) finish of 12-4. Currently, they are in the middle of a brutal non-conference schedule, in which they play five games in seven days and should come into Monday’s contest battle-tested having played some of the best teams in the country (4 of their first 7 games vs. nationally ranked opponents). The Nighthawks have 9 new promising freshmen and were voted in the preseason to finish near the top of their conference.

Newbury will look for their leading scorer Watson to attack coast-to-coast for layups in transition or Carrasco for the pull-up three. In the half-court, Watson can do it all, Carrasco will look to catch and shoot, and Owens, a stretch-5, has range beyond the arc. MIT must take care of these three primary scorers. Given MIT's size advantage, the Nighthawks may mix their defenses up (man-to-man, 3-2 zone, 2-3 zone).

MIT must continue to work on their ability to take care of the ball and use their height advantage tonight against Newbury.

MIT Downs Salem State at Home

Box Score

The MIT Engineers were short-handed at the end of the game, but were able to squeak out a 61-57 win versus Salem State tonight at Rockwell Cage. MIT's leading scorer Matt Redfield had to leave the game midway through the first half, and Junior captain Dennis Levene fouled out with 6 minutes left in the contest, but MIT was able to prevail with their 6th win of the season with solid play from the rest of the team.

In 12 minutes of action, 6'8" Redfield tallied 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, and a reverse dunk. Fellow 6'8" big-man Andrew Acker led the rest of the way, registering 15 points with 11 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. 6'6" Sophomore Justin Pedley was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line for 15 points as well. 

6'6" Sophomore Russell Johnson provided a spark off the bench, connecting on three three-pointers in a crucial three-minute stretch, while 6'8" Dennis Levene added 7 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block before fouling out. 

MIT moves to 6-2 on the season and will face Newbury College on Monday at 6pm. 

Game Preview: MIT vs. Salem State University

MIT vs. Salem State University
Thursday, Rockwell Cage, 7pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (5-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		Salem State (3-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	15.0	10.7		Chris Parenteau	6'9"	6.8	5.6
Andrew Acker	6'8"	10.0	8.4		Hamed Akanni	6'3"	13.0	7.4
Dennis Levene	6'8"	4.2	4.0		Andrew White	6'2"	11.2	3.6
Justin Pedley	6'6"	14.3	1.3		Anthony Hodges	5'11"	9.4	3.4
Paul Dawson	5'10"	5.9	5.7 apg		Bryan Ortiz	5'11"	17.4	3.0 apg

A Look at Salem State:
Salem State is a storied program with 20+ wins in five of their last seven seasons, including a number of MASCAC championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. They are currently 3-2 on the season, with their two losses coming to nationally ranked #9 WPI and #10 Williams.

The Vikings are another fast, athletic squad that is looking to capitalize on turnovers and mistakes. They will get out on the break to attack the basket or kick it out for a quick three. They will normally play four guards, all comfortable bringing the ball up the court and attacking. In the half-court they run a 4-out-1-in motion, wasting no time on the clock to penetrate the lane. On defense, the Engineers will most likely be faced with a half-court man.

Tonight the Engineers will be tested again on how well they can handle the ball. With 22 turnovers last game, MIT appears to beat themselves at times. Salem State is a team that will convert points off of these turnovers and ultimately make you pay. With the clear size advantage, MIT must also expect to spend a considerable amount of time at the free-throw line again. MIT's bigs must take advantage of these free opportunities to put points on the board. Finally, MIT's guards must knock down outside shots on the double-downs to the post players, keeping the Vikings' defense honest.

Tune in tonight at half-time to listen to MITHoops.NET's half-time analysis.

MIT Grabs Win #5 Over UMass-Boston

The MIT Engineers defeated UMass-Boston tonight 69-63, earning their fifth win of the season. Despite somewhat sloppy play (MIT had 22 turnovers) and a mediocre performance at the free-throw line (15 misses), the Engineers were able to gut out the win down the stretch.

6'8" Junior Matt Redfield stuffed the stat sheet once again, posting 27 points, 16 rebound, 7 blocks, 2 dunks, 1 assist, and 1 steal on the night. Redfield moves to 85 career blocks, passing Will Tashman '13 for 9th place all-time in MIT history.

Redfield is averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game this season (Pic: Tom Gearty)

6'6" Sophomore Justin Pedley went 9-of-10 from the free-throw line en route to 14 points, while Freshman Dakota Pierce connected on three three-pointers for 11 points along with 4 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

Junior point guard Paul Dawson led MIT's offense with 7 assists, and 6'10" big-man Lampros Tsontzos connected on six straight crucial points down the stretch to ensure the MIT victory.

Freshman Dakota Pierce is shooting 37% from three this season (Pic: Tom Gearty)

MIT plays host to Salem State University on Thursday at 7pm in Rockwell Cage.

Game Preview: MIT vs. University of Massachusetts - Boston

MIT vs. University of Massachusetts - Boston
Tuesday, Clark Athletic Center, 7pm

Live Stats | Video

Probable Starters:

MIT (4-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG		UMB (3-2)	Ht.	PPG	RPG
Matt Redfield	6'8"	13.0	9.8		Carl Joseph	6'5"	19.8	6.2
Andrew Acker	6'8"	10.7	9.0		Jerard Mayes	6'4"	12.2	5.6
Dennis Levene	6'8"	5.0	4.5		Gregory Young	6'3"	12.4	5.0
Justin Pedley	6'6"	14.3	1.2		Omar Benabicha	6'0"	8.0	4.0
Paul Dawson	5'10"	6.3	5.5 apg		Ryan Lapaglia	6'0"	4.0	1.2 apg

A Look at UMass-Boston:
The University of Massachusetts - Boston is currently 3-2 and members of the very tough Little East Conference. They are another extremely athletic and mobile team that will look to get out on the break. In transition they will be looking for their do-it-all go-to-guy Carl Joseph for the pull-up three. In the half-court, the Beacons utilize a 4-around-1 motion offense, looking for the drive and kick (the Beacons put up 17 three's per game). On the defensive end the Beacons make up for their size with defensive pressure and intensity.

MIT must take care of the ball against UMass-Boston's pressure, and look for the size advantage down low. The Engineers' big-men must continue attacking the hoop, and must find the open man on the perimeter once the inevitable double-teams come. Defensively the Engineers must be able to deny dribble penetration while preventing the Beacons from getting a hot hand from beyond the arc.

MIT Defense Shuts Down Rhode Island

The MIT Engineers held Rhode Island College, who was ranked #22 in the national preseason poll, to 26.9% shooting from the field and just 38 points yesterday afternoon in the 54-38 win at Rockwell Cage. MIT's defensive performance ranks as one of the top performances for the Engineers in the last decade (MIT held two teams to 38 points: John Abbott in 2009-2010 and Gordon in 2011-2012; and two teams to 34 points: Wheelock in 2012-2013 and Polytechnic in 2003-2004). The Engineers also out-rebounded the Anchormen 42-28.

MIT held RIC to just 14 second-half points (Pic: Robert Krawitz)

MIT had four players in double-figures. 6'8" Matt Redfield led the way with 14 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, while his 6'8" teammate Andrew Acker added 11 points and 12 rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Justin Pedley added 11 points while Freshman Dakota Pierce went 2-of-3 from three for 10 points. Junior point guard Paul Dawson paced the Engineers with 6 assists on the afternoon.

6'6" Sophomore Russell Johnson nails the jumper (Pic: Robert Krawitz)

MIT moves to 4-2 on the season and travels to University of Massachusetts - Boston on Tuesday for the 7pm tip off.