Worcester, Mass. - February 17, 2016 - Forty-one combined points from graduate student Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) and senior guard Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) led the Springfield College men's basketball program to a 72-67 win over Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Wednesday night.

With the win, Springfield picked up a much-needed victory in the NEWMAC standings, as it improved to 10-14 overall, and 6-7 in league play, while the Cougars fall to 6-18, 3-10 on the year. The Pride held a slight advantage in the paint, scoring 34 points to Clarks' 24. The Cougars held a 37-32 edge on the glass in the defeat.

Alongside the 41 points from Altman and Downes, senior forward Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) notched his fourth double double of the season, consisting of  12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while sophomore guard Andy McNulty (West Springfield, Mass.) chipped in 10 points to go along with six assists and two steals.

For the Cougars, John Pisacreta (Andover, Mass.) and Tyler Huffman (West Hartford, Conn.) netted 12 points apiece, while Lamar Berk (Saint Augustine, Fla.) and Luca McCormick (Bradenton, Fla.) notched 11 points each in the loss.

Springfield got out to a hot start, as it went up 11-3 over the first 3:00 of the contest, benefitting from back-to-back baskets by Altman and Downes. Just 4:33 later, the Cougars would even the score at 13 apiece when McCormick took a pass from Luke Lalima (Colts Neck, N.J.) and drilled a three-pointer, before Springfield regained the advantage when Piretra converted a three-point play to make it 16-13 with 11:53 in the half.

With 8:28 left in the stanza, Berk netted a lay-up to give Clark a 25-20 advantage, but the Pride quickly erased its deficit when Downes registered four consecutive points following a basket from Altman to make it 26-25 with 6:15 left in the frame.

Up three with 1:34 left, Altman made a lay-up and followed with a three-pointer to give Springfield a 35-31 lead at the break.

Midway through the second half, Springfield held a three-point advantage following a pair of free-throws from Altman, but Clark would go on a 12-2 run that was halted by a free-throw from McNulty with 6:34 to go, Springfield trailing by five.

The Pride would fight back to get into the contest, as a jumper from Downes at the 4:23 mark, followed by two more free-throws from Altman just 46 seconds later gave Springfield back its one-point lead.

Holding on to that one-point edge following a free-throw from Downes with 24 seconds on the clock, graduate student Quinn McKenna (Litchfield, Conn.) knocked the ball loose on the Cougars' next possession and McNulty dove on the loose ball to give the Pride the ball back with the lead. The sophomore and Altman converted free-throws in the waning seconds to seal the victory for the Pride.

Up next, Springfield will host Coast Guard in its regular-season finale in Blake Arena on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m.