Worcester, Mass. – January 18, 2024 – The Springfield College men's basketball team fell to No. 23 nationally-ranked Clark University, 73-65, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup on Thursday evening inside the Kneller Athletic Center.

No. 23 Clark improved to 14-3 overall and an undefeated 8-0 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield dropped to 5-12, 2-6 NEWMAC.

Three student-athletes for Springfield tallied double-digit point totals guided by sophomore Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) with 16 in addition to his five rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks. Sophomore Zander Robinson (East Hartford, Conn.) notched 13 points off the bench to go along with four boards, while sophomore John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) registered ten points in the setback. Clark's Bruce Saintilus posted 20 points, while Kokoa McArdle tallied a ten point, 11 rebound double-double.

As a team, Springfield shot 46.0-percent from the floor and made seven buckets from behind the arc, but the difference in the game came for Clark at the free throw line as the Cougars sank 20-of-28 attempts from the charity stripe despite shooting just 34.8-percent from the floor and matching Springfield's seven three point baskets on the night.

Both teams played a tight opening ten minutes of play as the score stood at 10-10 following a trey by Springfield first-year Jeremy Brown (Queensland, Australia). Just a minute later, a shot from behind the arc from Robinson off a feed from graduate student Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) gave Springfield its first lead of the contest at 13-12. Clark answered with nine straight points over the next two minutes for a 21-13 edge with just 7:09 to play in the first and held that edge for the remainder of the stanza as the score stood at 36-28 in favor of the hosts through 20.

Back-to-back shots from Paulino and Evely early in the second forced Clark to burn a timeout. A 6-2 run for the Pride that featured a trey by senior Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.), a layup from junior Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and a layup from Evely made it a two point game at 42-40 with still 13:50 to play in regulation. Both teams traded buckets before a bench technical for the Pride resulted in a five point possession for Clark and the lead grew to nine at 54-45 following a layup by Saintilus. 

Clark registered its largest lead of the game of 12 points (65-53) with six minutes left in the contest before Springfield went on a 12-3 run to make it a one possession game at 68-65 with under a minute left. The spurt featured four points from both Evely and Paulino. Springfield called a timeout, but with 30 seconds to play Reid Neumann buried a shot from the corner to put the game out of reach. Clark knocked down a pair of free throws and time expired as the Cougars held off Springfield for the 73-65 win.

Springfield tallied 24 points in the paint and 31 points off the bench, while Clark turned 23 Springfield turnovers into 22 points.

Springfield will return home on Saturday, January 20 for a NEWMAC contest with MIT. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 pm inside Blake Arena.

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