MIT comes from behind to defeat Coast Guard in overtime, 74-67
MIT overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 1:48 of regulation to send its New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men’s basketball game to overtime where the Engineers gained the upper hand to come away with a 74-67 victory. Bradley Jomard ’19 scored 13 of his season-high 29 points over the final six minutes, including overtime, to help the Engineers secure the win.
Coast Guard (9-11, 3-7 NEWMAC) looked to be in control when a pair of free throws by sophomore Ethan Boose gave the Bears a 57-48 lead with 1:48 left. MIT (16-4, 8-2 NEWMAC) started its comeback when Justin Pedley ’16 answered with a three to make it a six-point game. After a Coast Guard free throw, Pedley drained another three to make it a four-point gap. Poor free throw shooting by the Bears, who hit 2-of-7 in the final minute and a half, allowed the Engineers to close in and when Jomard was fouled with 23 ticks left he stepped to the line and sank both shots to tie it at 59-all and send it to OT.
In the extra time, the two sides traded a pair of points in the first minute before Jomard hit on a layup and then a pair of free throws to put MIT up 64-61 with 3:30 left, its first lead since the seven-minute mark of the second half. The Engineers never trailed again, as they sank 9-of-11 free throws in the final minute to ice the win.
MIT had the upper hand early in the contest, going out to a 13-6 lead after a three from Ryan Frankel ’16 and a jumper from Jomard. Coast Guard slowly chipped away and eventually caught up with six minutes left in the half when sophomore Darius Adams scored on a layup. It was never more than a two-point game for the rest of the half, and sophomore Micah Baldez hit a shot for the Bears as time expired to make it a 27-27 game.
It was still a tied game two minutes into the second half, but MIT came up with threes from Cameron Korb ’19, Pedley, and Jomard to open a 41-32 advantage with 14:39 left. The lead grew to 44-34 after a basket from Lampros Tsontzos ’16 , but MIT then went eight minutes without scoring, missing on 10 straight attempts.
That was the opening that Coast Guard needed and the Bears reeled off 14 unanswered points, six on a pair of threes by Baldez, to go on top 48-44 with six minutes to go. A Jomard jumper halted the MIT scoring drought, but Coast Guard came back with seven consecutive points, taking a 55-46 lead on a three-pointer by junior Adrian Chuquillangui with three minutes to go. The Bears missed two more three attempts, however, and the Engineers went on to stage the comeback that led to their win.
Jomard hit all nine of his free throw attempts and completed a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds for MIT. Pedley hit on five long-range shots on his way to a 16-point outing, with Frankel adding nine points and six assists and Korb a season best nine points.