12/01/2007
Balanced Attack Leads Men's Basketball Past Anna Maria

WORCESTER, MASS. 12/01/07 - The Clark University men’s basketball team used a balanced offense to secure a 94-77 non-conference victory over Anna Maria College at the Kneller Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore forward Mark Alexander’s (Providence, R.I.) 23 points led Clark (3-2). Sophomore transfers Jack Minister (Manchester, England) and Chris Lopiano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) added 17 and 16 points respectively, and senior Pat Landers (Worcester, Mass.) finished with 16 points and a game-high seven boards.

Clark built a commanding 44-28 half-time lead. After trailing by seven, the Cougars used a 7-0 run of their own capped by Alexander’s three-point play to tie it up at the 14:21 mark. The AmCats pushed their lead back up to six (13-7), but Clark outscored the visitors 22-4 over the next 7:16 for a 12-point advantage (29-17). Minister, who was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, hit a pair of three’s and LoPiano drained a trey in the uprising.

Alexander and Minister led Clark with 13 and 12 first-half points, respectively.

The Cougars wasted little time adding to its lead in the second half. Back-to-back three-pointers by Pat Ochoa (Springfield, Mass.) and Landers gave Clark a 54-32 cushion three minutes into the frame.

Anna Maria cut the margin down to 14 (66-80) on consecutive baskets from Mark Garrity (Somerville, Mass.) with 6:35 remaining, but would get no closer. Clark, which had a 42-27 advantage on the boards, also visited the line 12 more times (22-for-27) than the AmCats (10-for-19).

Senior forward James Daigneault (Worcester, Mass.) had 15 points to lead Anna Maria. Junior Henry Rose (Coventry, R.I.) and Garrity each added 12 points for AMC (2-4), which dropped its third straight game.

Clark will be back in action against Brandeis University on Tuesday (7 p.m.) at the Kneller Athletic Center. Anna Maria will host Mitchell College that same day at 7:30 p.m.