Cambridge, Mass. – December 6, 2023 – Springfield College men's basketball erased a 16 point second half deficit, but MIT was able to hold off the Pride and come away with a 72-71 win in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both squads tonight in Rockwell Cage.

Springfield fell to 2-4 overall and to 0-1 in NEWMAC play, while MIT improved to 2-7 and 1-0 in the league.

Springfield's offense was powered by first-year Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.), who posted 21 points, four rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes off the bench. Junior Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) notched 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist, while junior Gary Bess (Miami, Fla.) registered a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points, two assists, two steals and a block.

Springfield jumped out to an early 9-2 lead over the opening five minutes of the game and forced MIT to call its first timeout following a putback layup by Blische. Senior Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) buried a three point bucket to open the scorning before Blische, Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) and Bess all found layups during the run. Livingston pulled up for a three pointer with 8:18 left in the first to give Springfield its largest lead of the half of 11 points at 26-15.

MIT outscored Springfield by 19-3 margin over the final 5:57 of the first half as the Engineers took a six point lead into the break. Over the stretch, MIT converted five times from behind the arc for the 40-34 edge at halftime. Mike Ewing tallied 14 of his 24 points on the night in the run for the Engineers.

MIT continued its pressure out of the locker room and built to its largest lead of the game of 16 points at 53-37 with 15:01 to play following a layup from Michael Zhang. Springfield, however, answered with a 19-3 run of its own over the next five minutes capped by a trio of three pointer by Livingston to even the score at 56-56.

Both teams traded baskets until there were two minutes left in regulation. Livingston knocked down a pair of shots from the free throw line and converted a layup giving Springfield a 71-67 edge, but a shot from behind the arc from MIT's Isaac Dobie made it a one point game.

Out of a Springfield timeout, Blische missed a pair of layups and MIT drew a foul placing Merlin Gogolin at the line. Gogolin hit both ends of a 1-and-1 for a 72-71 Engineers lead with ten seconds to play as those shots held until the buzzer for the final tonight.

Springfield shot at a 40.3-percent clip from the floor and turned 15 MIT turnovers into 14 points. The Pride also scored 22 points in the paint and 27 points off the bench. Springfield also held a 42-37 edge on the glass.

Springfield will host Williams College in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, December 9 at 1:00 pm inside Blake Arena.

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