Engineers Begin Quest for Second Consecutive NEWMAC Title Against Clark

On Saturday, nationally-ranked No. 13 MIT (22-3) hopes to take advantage of its first bye in the history of the NEWMAC postseason tournament in propelling to its third finals appearance in five seasons. The test will be stiff for the Engineers, who are 3-1 at home in the NEWMAC playoffs, and 2-1 all-time against Clark in the postseason. The Cougars enter the tilt full of confidence after dispatching Wheaton College on the road. The Lyons had proved to be MIT's nemesis this season after defeating the Engineers twice (the only Division III team to upend MIT this year), but they lost to Clark on Wednesday, 58-55.

Clark held MIT to its lowest scoring total of the season in the team's first meeting and its fourth-lowest scoring total of the year in the second encounter. The Engineers escaped with victories in both contests, although both games required a significant rally by the Cardinal and Gray.

On January 16, MIT erased a 14-point first half deficit en route to a 54-51 win in Worcester. The Cougars led 35-21 with two minutes remaining in the opening period before Mitchell Kates ran off six straight points to cut the lead to eight at the break. In the second half, MIT shot 55% from the floor while holding the Cougars to 29% shooting. Mark Alexander had a chance to tie the game at the end, but his attempt from three fell short.

In the second meeting of the season, MIT shrugged off a seven-point second half deficit to defeat Clark, 59-52. The Cougars led 38-31 with 14 minutes left to play, but four three's by rookie Jimmy Burke and a commanding 31-17 advantage for MIT on the glass proved to be the difference.

MIT and Clark rank first and second in the league in scoring defense and have slugged it out in the previous matchups, making it wise to take the under. The Engineers' battles against the Cougars have resulted in their two worst games of the year in terms of field goals made. On the other hand, MIT held Clark to a season-low 43 field goal attempts in their first trip to Rockwell Cage. Noel Hollingsworth has been the leading scorer in both meetings, totaling 20 points and 11 rebounds at Clark and 17 points in the re-match.

The keys for MIT include controlling the boards (+20 in two games), taking care of the basketball (-9 turnover margin), and keeping the Cougars off the free-throw line (22-of-26 against MIT). The Cougars offensive figures to go through Mark Alexander, who is third in the NEWMAC in scoring at 17.5 points per game and is second in the league in free-throw attempts. Alexander has totaled 29 points in two games versus the Engineers this season, while Brian Vayda has added 28. Both teams will look to shoot the open three, although few are expected to be had as the team's also rank first and second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense.

Video Interviews: Eric Zuk and Noel Hollingsworth

We are back for this week's final installment of player video interviews. Today we have interviews with junior captain Eric Zuk and sophomore center Noel Hollingsworth.

Eric discusses the atmosphere in last weekend's NEWMAC clinching win over Springfield, about his expectations for the season, and how differently teams have been preparing for MIT this year than in years past.

Noel discusses his transition from the Ivy League to MIT, advice he would give to other players in his sitatuion, and how it has been working with formner NBA center Paul Grant on the coaching staff here at MIT.

Video Interviews: Mitchell Kates and Jimmy Burke

We are back for another installment of MIT player video interviews. Tonight we shift our focus to the Garden State, as we profile two freshman guards from New Jersey.

Mitch Kates, from Colts Neck, NJ, discusses how it has been stepping into a void left at the point guard position after last year's graduating class, how it has been adjusting to his role as the floor leader for this team, and his expectations before the season.

Jimmy Burke, from Scotch Plains, NJ, talks about his success in high school and how it compares to this season, his role on the team, and when he realized this year's team was pretty good.

Check back tomorrow as we profile junior captain Eric Zuk and sophomore center Noel Hollingsworth.

Video Interviews: Patrick Sissman and Ben Montgomery

In our second installment of the player video interviews, we focus on the two players on the squad from Maryland: senior captain Patrick Sissman and freshman forward Ben Montgomery. The guys discuss keys to the team's success and Patrick reflects on his career at MIT.

MIT to Face Clark; WPI, Springfield Advance in NEWMAC Tourney

Top-seeded MIT (22-3) will host No. 5-seeded Clark University (14-12) on Saturday, February 27 at 1 p.m. after the Cougars defeated No. 4 Wheaton (10-15), 58-55, at the Lyons' Emerson Gymnasium. As expected, the game was virtually even across every statistical category, but the Cougars held on despite leading by nine with three minutes to play and a poor performance at the charity stripe in the game's final minutes. The Lyons had a chance to tie the game, but Brendan Degnan's buzzer-beating three missed.

In earlier action, No. 3 WPI (19-6) jumped out to an 18-2 start before prevailing, 76-71, against No. 6 Coast Guard. Kyle Nadeau paced four players in double figures with 16 points and seven assists. Fernando Perez added 14 points and 14 rebounds. Coast Guard climbed back into contention behind a phenomenal performance by Greg Marshall, who dropped in a game-best 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting. The Bears finish the season at 7-16.

Worcester's version of the Engineers will face No. 2 Springfield College (14-12) in the second semi-final hosted by MIT on Saturday. It took all 40 minutes for the Pride to shake last-place Babson (10-16). Matt Zoia hit two three's in providing the Beavers with a late push, but led by Ryan Coburn's 9-for-10 effort at the line and game-high 15 points, Springfield advanced, 71-65.

MIT Drops A Spot in Final Regular-Season NCAA NE Region Rankings

The final of four in-season regional rankings were released today by the NCAA, and MIT fell to the #3 ranking in the Northeast region, only trailing Williams and Middlebury.


Full rankings can be found here: NCAA Release.

Statistically Speaking

This is how MIT stacks up statistically in the NEWMAC and against other NCAA DIII teams across the country. Stats are for games through 2/21/2010. Only statistics in which MIT is top 2 in the NEWMAC as a team and top 10 in individual categories are listed. Note that the NCAA does not rank all categories that the NEWMAC ranks.

Team Stats

Statistic	Value	NEWMAC	NCAA
Scoring Defense	58.8	1	8
Rebounding Margin	+7.0	1	18
Scoring Margin	+12.2	1	19
3FGM	7.56	1	56
FG%	46.3	1	89
Assists	14.48	1	104
A/TO	0.90	1	170
Rebounding Defense	30.6	1
Scoring Offense	71.0	2	201
FG% Defense/td>	39.8	2	27
3FG% Defense	21.5	2

Individual Stats

Player	Statistic	Value	NEWMAC	NCAA
Noel Hollingsworth	Scoring	20.2	1	42
	FG%	56.9	1	58
	Rebounds	9.1	1	65
	Blocks	1.44	3	93
Mitchell Kates	Steals	2.20	1	62
	Assists	4.24	1	92
	A/TO	1.25	6
	FG%	49.6	7
	Scoring	13.3	8	485
	FT%	69.3	9
Jimmy Burke	3FGM	2.46	1	91
	3FG%	41.3	4
Will Tashman	Rebounds	7.0	4	216
	FG%	55.4	2
Billy Johnson	3FGM	1.64	5	387
Billy Bender	Rebounds	5.3	9
	3FGM	1.21	10

Video Interviews: Billy Johnson and Will Tashman

This is the inaugural edition of our player video interviews. Every day this week, leading up to the NEWMAC tournament hosted by MIT on February 27-28, we will be posting two new player interviews. We will include more video interviews in the coming weeks, and we hope to have every player and coach interviewed at least once before the season is over.

For today's episode, we have senior captain Billy Johnson and freshman forward Will Tashman profiled. Billy talks about the team this year, how the team compares to last year, and why he grew a beard. Will talks about his first year at MIT, why his recruiting class has been so productive so quickly, and reminisces about high school.





Thanks to fellow NEWMAC supporter Mark S. for his input that motivated us to actually get these interviews done!

MIT #13 in the Country in D3Hoops.com Poll

MIT drops to #13 in this week's D3hoops.com poll, after finishing the week 1-1. MIT fell early last week at Wheaton, in a game that was decided in the last minute, followed by an impressive win at Springfield to clinch the outright NEWMAC regular season championship. MIT is now 22-3 overall, 21-2 in DIII, and 10-2 in the NEWMAC, all MIT single-season records.

Full D3hoops.com Rankings Here

MIT will host the semifinal and final rounds of the NEWMAC tournament next weekend, February 27-28. They will host the winner of the Wheaton/Clark matchup at 1:00 PM next Saturday. Check back to MIT Hoops for game previews and additional coverage.

Engineers Stand Alone Atop NEWMAC, Break Single-Season Wins Mark

MIT gritted out their 10th NEWMAC victory of the season, beating Springfield College on the road this afternoon, 66-62. Pacing MIT today was fifth-year senior Billy Johnson, who had a season high 20 points, including a clutch 5-6 at the FT line in the final minute. Johnson said after the game, "Personally, I haven't been in a good shooting rhythm the past couple of games, so hitting those free throws at the end was something I owed to the team." Also playing solid games for MIT were Noel Hollingsworth, who had 15 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Mitchell Kates with 7 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Jimmy Burke also chipped in with 15 points, while Will Tashman added 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

The first half was highly contested. MIT jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but that was the biggest lead they would have the rest of the half, as the game turned into a defensive slugfest at both ends of the floor. MIT never trailed in the half, but only took a 2 point lead into the break, 28-26.

The beginning of the second half was all Springfield, as they came out of the gates with an 8-0 run over the first 2 minutes of play. The six-point advantage would be the largest lead they would hold, as MIT eliminatged it quickly and regained the lead with more than 15 minutes remaining in the game. MIT would maintain at least a two posession lead over the next 11 minutes, until a Springfield 3 with just over 4 minutes to play cut the lead to 3. MIT answered, though, mainly behind its strong defense. Springfield would score only 1 point over the next 3 minutes as MIT grew its lead to 9 at 58-49, with 1:23 to play. MIT would increase the lead to 10, but Springfield refused to quit, making a flurry of 3s in the final minute to bring the game to within 3 points with 10 seconds to play. However, a free throw by Billy Johnson, followed by a steal by Mitchell Kates sealed the win for MIT.

After the game, Johnson commented on the win and this year's team:

"Most importantly, I realized today that our basketball program is at a different level. It isn't the 22 wins or the regular season championship, but our team's reaction to everything. There was no jumping up and down, no huge celebration; being successful has become the baseline for our program. We set our goals at the beginning of the season, and until we accomplish those goals, and until we play the way we know we can, we will be grateful for what we've already accomplished, but we won't be satisfied."

MIT finishes the regular season at 22-3, 21-2 in Division III, and 10-2 in the NEWMAC. The 22 wins overall and the 10 wins in the NEWMAC are both records for any MIT team in the 110-year history of the program. With the win, MIT earns itself a first-round bye in the NEWMAC tournament and hosting rights for the semifinal and final rounds. They will host the winner of the #4/#5 matchup next Saturday in Rockwell Cage.

Official MIT Release