Cambridge, Mass. - January 14, 2023 - The Springfield College men's basketball team closed out the game on a 17-3 run as it rallied past MIT, 87-79, on Saturday afternoon to earn its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory of the season. 

Springfield snapped its four-game slide to improve to 4-11, 1-3 in NEWMAC action, while MIT dipped to 3-10, 1-3. 

John Paulino (Bedford, Mass.) netted 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) added 19 points as he knocked down seven of his 11 field goal attempts.  Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds and Nick Bray (Hartford, Conn.) came off the bench to contribute 14 points.  The Pride finished the game shooting 54% from the field and had its bench outscore MIT by a 34-2 margin. 

It was a back-and-forth start to the game before two freebies from Andrew Rocci (Plymouth, Mass.) allowed the Pride to take a 26-18 lead at the 10:49 mark. Springfield would maintain a 36-30 lead following a free throw by Paulino with 6:04 on the clock, only to have the hosts answer with a 6-0 burst to even things up.  Springfield would head into the half with a 47-44 advantage as it knocked down 17-of-30 from the field, including six three pointers.  

The Pride lead for the first five-plus minutes of the second half before MIT put together a 10-3 spurt of a three minute span to regain 63-60 edge with just over 12 minutes left in regulation.  A pair of free throws with 7:15 on the clock allowed MIT's cushion to grow to 76-70, but the Pride use a 9-3 push to tie up the game one last time with 3:28 to play following a Paulino triple from the left wing.  The Pride forced a turnover and Bray buried a triple from the left corner on a second-chance bucket which put the Pride ahead for good as it scored the final eight points of the game, including five from Costa, to seal the conference win. 

Springfield will return home to host Coast Guard next Wednesday at 7 pm.

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