Springfield, Mass. – January 23, 2025 – The Springfield College men's basketball team fell to Clark University, 69-54, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Thursday evening in Blake Arena.

Clark improved to 10-7 overall and to 6-2 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield dipped to 6-11, 3-5. Both teams will open their second rotation of conference games on Saturday as Clark hosts Wheaton and Springfield travels to MIT. Earlier this season, Clark defeated Wheaton, 100-85, while Springfield topped MIT, 83-75.

Nine different student-athletes scored for Springfield tonight led by nine points from both Cedric Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) and Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.). Blische guided Springfield defensively as well with a team-best eight rebounds. Kekoa McArdle paced Clark with 18 points and nine rebounds on an 8-for-13 effort from the floor, while Bruce Saintilus added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists.
 
Springfield took an early 6-2 edge following a layup from Blische just 3:14 into the contest, but the visitors eventually evened the score at 14-14 midway though the half. A trey by RJ Hutt (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) off a feed from Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) put Springfield ahead again and sparked a quick 7-2 run for a five point lead. Clark once again chipped away and put together a run of its own for a 26-25 edge, but a 10-2 spurt for the Pride ignited by six points from Blische gave Springfield an eventual 35-33 lead at halftime.

Clark took advantage of five missed free throws from Springfield early in the second period keeping it a one possession game back and forth until there was 13:29 left. The Cougars outscored Springfield 13-5 and shot 5-for-6 from the floor over the near five minute stretch as Clark took a 55-48 lead and never looked back. Over the final 12 minutes of the contest, Clark outscored Springfield 27-11 as the Pride shot just 3-for-17 down the stretch, while the Cougars went 12-for-17, recorded five steals and received ten points from McArdle to secure the win.

As a team, Clark shot 49.1-percent from the floor and outscored Springfield, 42-30, in the paint. The Pride shot just 33.9-percent from the floor and converted just twice from behind the arc in the setback.

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