New London, Conn. – February 7, 2024 – Coast Guard held the Springfield College men's basketball team without a field goal over the final 5:48 of the contest and the host Bears knocked down 10-of-10 free throws down the stretch to defeat the Pride 76-71 in NEWMAC action tonight in Roland Gymnasium.

Coast Guard, which won both games in this year's series, improved to 13-9 and 6-7 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield dropped to 7-15 overall and to 4-9 in the league standings.

Junior Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) led the Pride with 17 points and ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season, while graduate student Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) posted 12 points in 31 minutes of action. Mitch Shettles guided Coast Guard with 26 points and 11 boards on an 8-for-13 shooting performance from the floor. In total, four of Coast Guard's five starters reached double figures tonight.

Springfield jumped out to an 8-2 lead over the first 2:08 of the game as sophomore Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) knocked down a pair of jumpers before Blische recorded a three point play. The Bears took their first lead of the game minutes later when Luke Farrell hit a shot from behind the arc for an 11-10 edge. The Pride answered with a 12-3 run that saw five different student-athletes find the basket to regain the lead at 22-14 midway through the first.

Coast Guard once again answered and regained the lead at 27-25 with 5:54 to play after Shettles and Cameron Brown posted points in the paint, but it was Springfield which took a 35-33 edge into the locker room following back-to-back shots from first-year Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.).

The Bears came out of the break and outscored Springfield 19-9 over the first 6:35 of the second before a 12-2 run that featured five points from Hoch put the Pride out in front 56-55 with 8:47 to play. Both teams traded baskets until four points in the paint by Blische and two free throws from Livingston made Springfield's lead three points at 69-66 with 5:25 remaining.

From that point on, Springfield missed its final four shot attempts and committed five turnovers, while over the same stretch, Coast Guard went 10-for-10 at the free throw line as the Bears clipped the Pride 76-71.

Springfield out shot Coast Guard as the Pride hit 27 baskets from the floor at a 42.9-percent clip, but Coast Guard converted on 17-of-19 times from the charity stripe and knocked down nine shots from behind the arc.

The Pride will host Emerson College on Saturday, February 10 at 1:00 pm in Blake Arena.

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