New London, Conn. - January 19, 2022 - The Springfield College men's basketball team knocked down eight three-pointers in the first half to jump out to an 18-point lead en route to a 78-69 victory at Coast Guard in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday night.

With the win, Springfield boosted its record to 4-10, 2-3 in conference play, while Coast Guard slipped to 3-10, 0-4. 

Jacob Morales (Montvale, N.J.) led four players in double figures with a game-high 18 points, including 11 in the second half, Panayiotis Kapanides (Bedford, Mass.) added 15 points, Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) chipped in 13 points, and Nick Bray (Hartford, Conn.) scored 11.  Justin Dunne (Derry, N.H.) contributed nine points and eight rebounds off the bench as the Pride finished the night shooting 28-54 (52%), including 10-of-24 from deep.  

Declan Rooney had a team-high 14 points off the bench to lead the Bears while Jarrod Jackson (11), Tyler Perez (10). Cameron Brown had a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench for Coast Guard.

After Costa buried a triple to give Springfield a 16-9 lead with just over 12 minutes left in the first half, Coast Guard answered with a 7-3 burst to pull within 19-16 at the 10:40 mark.  However, Springfield used back-to-back buckets from Cameron Garber (Billerica, Mass.) as part of a 7-0 surge to give the Pride a 26-16 cushion. Over the final 4:30 of the frame, Springfield would outscore the hosts by a 13-3 margin as Dunne, Costa, and Morales all connected from beyond the arc to fuel the visitors 44-26 halftime lead.  Springfield shot 17-for-30 from the field in the frame and knocked down 8-of-16 three-point bids.  

The Pride's lead would grow to as many as 19 points thanks to a Nate Gryczka (Keene, N.H.) trifecta with 12:30 left in regulation for the 57-38 cushion, but an 11-2 run by the Bears with 4:11 remaining made it a 10-point ball game. Morales responded with a three-point play to quiet the momentum and Costa cashed in on a pair from the line with under two minutes to play to push the lead back to 15 points as the Pride held on for its first conference road win the of year. 

Springfield returns to Blake Arena for the NEWMAC clash with Clark on Saturday at 3 pm.

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