Video Flashback: 2009 NEWMAC Tournament Championship

A few days ago, the focus of our "Turn Back the Clock" article was last year's exciting run to the NEWMAC crown. Keeping with that theme, in today's "Video Flashback" we bring you the highlights of the NEWMAC tournament championship game between MIT and Springfield. The entire clip is only about 9 minutes and you won't miss a single bucket. MIT was led in the contest by Jimmy Bartolotta, who set a tournament single-game scoring record with 37 points. The box score for the game can be found here: 2009 NEWMAC Championsip Game Box Score.

Turn Back the Clock: MIT Races to First Conference Crown

For our second installment of Turn Back the Clock, we fast forward 108 years and take another glance at one of the biggest moments in the history of the MIT program. Although Sunday, March 1, 2009, is fresh in the minds of the community, the day marked a historic achievement as the Engineers captured their first postseason conference title while securing their first NCAA Tournament berth in school history.

Although MIT had just 10 players on its active roster, the Engineers finished the regular season with a 17-8 record, and finished as the second seed in the NEWMAC Tournament with an 8-4 record in league play. After an intense overtime victory against Coast Guard in the quarterfinals, and dispatching Babson with an 11-point victory in the semis, the Cardinal and Gray was set to face Springfield College in the Championship Final.

The Engineers rode Jimmy Bartolotta’s hot hand in the opening half and led 35-26 entering the second half at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium. Springfield sliced MIT’s advantage to 37-30 following a jumper by Pat Crean with 17:21 left on the clock, although Bartolotta pushed the lead back to nine with a lay-up on Tech’s next possession. Billy Johnson put the lead in double figures for the duration with a three on MIT’s next shot.

MIT slowly expanded its advantage on the Pride during the half, but with Johnson and rookie sharpshooter Jamie Karraker sidelined with four fouls each, the Engineers relied on key contributions from their bench to ignite a 19-3 run. A three by freshman Billy Bender gave MIT its largest lead of the afternoon at 76-48 with 57 seconds left in regulation while the final buzzer sounded with MIT ahead, 76-50. Bartolotta delivered one of his many phenomenal efforts on the season, scoring a game-high 37 points to spark the unprecedented win.

Billy Johnson was the only other MIT player to reach double figures as he scored 13 points, and senior Bradley Gampel turned in another masterful performance at the point with 10 assists and one turnover. Gampel added seven boards and three steals in adding to his single-season Institute record.

Watch the highlights of the game here: 2009 NEWMAC Championship Game.

MIT would go on to face and defeat Rhode Island College five days later in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Championship, while Bartolotta collected a bevy of individual awards including ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America of the Year and D3Hoops National Player of the Year.

Statistically Speaking

This is the final NCAA version of Statistically Speaking for the 2009-2010 season. All DIII games for this season have been completed. Note that the NCAA ranks only a subset of the statistical categories the NEWMAC ranks, the NCAA ranks a different number of players in each category, and the NCAA has different minimum guidelines to rank players in each category compared to the NEWMAC. For example, Will Tashman has a higher FG% for the season than Noel Hollingsworth, but Tashman does not meet the minimum requirement for field goals made to be ranked in this category, while Hollingsworth does. Therefore, Hollingsworth is ranked by the NCAA in this category and Tashman is not.

Team Rankings (out of 404 total teams)

Statistic	Value	NCAA
Scoring Defense	59.8	8
Rebounding Margin	+6.6	17
Winning Percentage	81.5	21
Scoring Margin	+10.6	26
FG% Defense	40.3	32
3FGM	7.41	66
Assists	14.3	109
FG%	45.7	111
Blocks	3.3	118
3FG% Defense	32.5	125
A/TO	0.90	164
3FG%	33.3	192
FT%	68.3	200
Steals	7.2	211
Scoring Offense	70.3	213

Individual Rankings (Number of players ranked varies by category)

Player	Statistic	Value	NCAA
Noel Hollingsworth	Scoring	20.4	35
	Rebounds	9.0	59
	FG%	56.0	65
	Blocks	1.44	96
	FT%	66.9	479
Mitchell Kates	Steals	2.11	79
	Assists	4.15	94
	A/TO	1.18	235
	FT%	70.8	392
	Scoring	13.2	488
Will Tashman	Rebounds	7.2	202
	Blocks	0.62	482
Jimmy Burke	3FGM	2.31	112
Billy Johnson	3FGM	1.67	355

Turn Back the Clock: Basketball Gets Its Start at MIT

Today we begin a new feature called Turn Back the Clock, which highlights memorable moments in the history of the MIT men’s basketball program. Since this is our first installment, we thought it would be appropriate to put the spotlight on the origins of the program.

Following the lead of other colleges and universities, MIT (known at the time as Technology) made preparations for the formation of a basketball team after a group of students brought the idea before President Henry Smith Pritchett for consideration in the fall of 1900. The President stated that if a sufficient number of men interested in the game could be found, he would give the team his support. At the meeting held in Room I (Boston campus), 30 men were present and more students had stated their intention of trying for the team, raising the number to nearly fifty. This was considerably more than the limit set by Dr. Pritchett. With this showing, an organization was at once formed and John F. Pell ‘03, of Newark, N.J., was elected captain, with Hiram F. Peaslee ‘03, taking the reins as manager.

On Saturday, January 11, 1901, at the Boston Normal School Gymnasium (off Huntington Ave.), the Technology basketball team defeated Dean Academy in its inaugural contest, 22-1. Forward Walter Dillon led all players with eight points, while forward George “Fay’ Libbey also enjoyed a strong game. Libbey was MIT’s leading scorer throughout the season, and although his game high was nine points, he scored every point for MIT in multiple games. Rounding out the starting lineup for the Institute’s first basketball team were Frank Cox, John Pell, and Charles Hunter. Walter Fitch and Henry Kendall entered the game as subs.

The majority of MIT’s schedule for the 1901 season was filled by teams with various YMCA affiliations, although the team did see action against intercollegiate competition. MIT and Harvard split a pair of meetings, while the Engineers defeated Brown University in the season finale.

Hollingsworth Named 2nd Team All-American by NABC, Also Picked to 1st Team All-District

On the same day he was selected as an All-New England 1st Team selection by the ECAC, MIT F/C Noel Hollingsworth picked up some national-level hardware as he was selected as a 2nd Team All-American by the NABC. He was also selected to the NABC Northeast District 1st Team.

Full releases can be found here:

NABC All-District

NABC All-American

Hollingsworth was also named Honorable-Mention All-America by the DIIINews:

DIIINews Postseason Awards

Hollingsworth Named to ECAC New England All-Star 1st Team

MIT sophomore F/C Noel Hollingsworth added to his ever-growing list of post-season awards today, as he was named to the ECAC New England All-Star 1st Team. Hollingsworth was named 1st Team All-Region yesterday by D3hoops.com, to go along with his NEWMAC Player of the Year and NEWMAC 1st Team honors.

Full release can be found here: 2010 ECAC New England All-Stars

Video Flashback 2009: Coach Larry Anderson Interviewed by ESPN U

For this flashback we travel back about a year, as MIT had just won its first ever NEWMAC conference tourney and clinched the automatic bid to make its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. Not only was this big news on the Division III landscape, but ESPN picked up the story on several fronts, writing a column on Page 2 and inviting Coach Anderson to be interviewed on ESPN U. Below is the recording of that interview, which aired in early March 2009.

Hollingsworth Named First-Team All-Region, Kates Tabbed as Top Rookie in the Northeast

MIT sophomore F/C Noel Hollingsworth was named first-team all-region today by D3hoops.com. Hollingsworth has already been named NEWMAC Player of the Year and was a first-team selection for the conference as well. He was the leading scorer and rebounder in the NEWMAC this season, putting up 20.4 ppg and 9.0 rpg.

MIT freshman PG Mitch Kates also pulled in honors as the top freshman in the Northeast region, receiving the Rookie of the Year award. Kates was previously named the NEWMAC Rookie of the Year and was also named second-team all-conference. He led the NEWMAC in both steals and assists, also placing highly in many other statistical categories.

The D3hoops.com all-region selections are voted on by sports information directors in each region. The full list of selections can be found at D3hoops.com.

Video Flashback: Jimmy Bartolotta

It has been a year since MIT's only National Player of the Year, Jimmy Bartolotta, has graduated. To remember his great career, here are some video highlights of him while playing at MIT. He is currently playing in Italy's Serie A for Air Avellino.

MIT in the News: Will Tashman

During his impressive debut season at MIT, power forward Will Tashman made an immediate splash with his presence in the post and showed glimpses of his sky-high potential with his improvement throughout the season. He continues a rich tradition of athletic excellence from his high school, The Menlo School, which includes several other current Division III basketball players, including this years Jostens Trophy recipient Blake Shultz from Williams. The Jostens trophy, given to the top student-athlete in Division III who exemplifies excellence on the court, in the classroom, and in service to the community, was awarded last year to former MIT star Jimmy Bartolotta, who is currently playing in the Italian Serie A with Air Avellino.

The Menlo School News