01/16/2008
Men's Basketball Wins Third Straight NEWMAC Game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 16, 2008)  The Clark University men's basketball team won its third straight New England Womens and Mens Conference (NEWMAC) contest with a 66-64 win over Springfield, Wednesday evening in Blake Arena.

The loss drops the Pride to 5-9, 0-2 in conference play while the Cougars improve to 8-6, 3-0.

The Pride jumped out to an early 12-5 lead after a Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) field goal at the 15:10 mark. An 11-4 spurt capped off by a deep three-pointer by senior D.J. Brinn (Madison, CT) knotted the game at 16 just three minutes later. From there, the game went back and forth with six lead changes until the Cougars opened up a 10-0 run over a 3:01 span to own an 11-point advantage. Brinn tallied five points in the spurt to pace Clark. Springfield closed out the final 1:33 of the first half with a 6-0 run to claw back within five, 41-36, heading into the locker room.

The Cougars led by seven late in the second half, 63-56 after two free-throws by senior Pat Landers (Worester, MA). Springfield's Jamaal Gibbs (Norwalk, CT) converted to free-throws with 19 seconds left in the game to pull the Pride within two. Gibbs made a layup with four seconds remaining after a free throw each by Clark's first-year Chris Lopiano (Franklin Square, NY) and sophomore Mark Alexander (Providence, RI) to make the final score 66-64.

Gibbs and Ryan Blackmon (Stamford, CT) paced Springfield with 15 points.

Landers recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to the Cougars. Junior Peter Normandin (Westminister, MA) added 13 points and five rebounds.

The Cougars will travel to WPI on Saturday in meeting of conference unbeatens. Tip-off is slated for 4:00 pm. Springfield returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it travels to take on NEWMAC opponent MIT.