Springfield, Mass. – February 19, 2025 – The Springfield College men's basketball dropped a home 58-52 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game over No. 17 nationally-ranked WPI on Wednesday night in Blake Arena.

Springfield fell to 10-14 overall and to 7-8 in the NEWMAC, while WPI increased to 22-2 overall and to 14-1 in the league. Dating back to the 2019-20 season, WPI has claimed victory in the teams eight matchups. The Engineers also entered the game ranked 12th in the latest NCAA Power Index (NPI) ratings.

Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) powered Springfield's offense with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the floor and a trio of three point buckets, while Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) came up just shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 boards. John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) added seven points, six rebounds and three assists in the setback for the Pride. Brett Marelli guided WPI with a game-high 21 points on 10-for-18 shooting, while Justin Molen pulled down a game-high ten rebounds for the visiting Engineers.

In a defensive first half, Springfield fell behind 8-0 over the opening 3:10 of the contest before layups from Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.) and Hartley cut WPI's lead to just three with 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Despite a pair of thunderous blocks from Hartley and Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario), and an inside finish from Cedric Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) over the next two minutes, back-to-back Engineer treys pushed the visitors lead to ten.

Paulino connected on a deep left wing three with under six minutes remaining, pulling Springfield within eight, 26-21. The NEWMAC foes then traded buckets until two Livingston triples and a strong Rodriguez finish capped off an 8-0 Pride run, tying the game at 26 with 1:26 remaining in the half. A last-second layup from Marelli gave WPI a 28-26 advantage heading into the break.

The Engineers continued their momentum to start the second half, opening the stanza on a 9-1 run to return their lead to double digits, 39-29, with 15:17 remaining. Over the next five minutes, Evely propelled the Pride within five, swatting a WPI layup and finding Livingston in the left corner for a three, cutting WPI's lead 41-36 with 10:33 left to play. Jack Bleier responded with a three of his own, as the programs traded baskets over the next five minutes of play. A quick 8-0 run started by a Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) converted-and-one and capped off by an Evely three left Springfield trailing only three with 2:49, but proved to be the closest it would get. A pair of free throws and a layup iced the game for WPI, as the Engineers pulled out the 58-52 victory.

Springfield held the Engineers to just 27 percent (7-26) from behind the arc and 46 percent (5-11) from the stripe – their lowest of the season. The Pride held a 40-35 advantage on the glass, while registering three blocks and a steal. 

Springfield will travel to Clark on Saturday afternoon at Kneller Athletic Center for its final regular season game at 1:00 pm looking to secure its first NEWMAC postseason berth under head coach Michael McClendon.

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