Battaglia, Fogarty combine for 38 points in loss

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After playing to a 30-30 tie in the first half, MIT came out of the break and shot over 53-percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes to surge past Wheaton College, 71-56, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball tilt.

Wheaton junior guard Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn./Taft School) led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting (2-for-3 3PT, 4-4 FT), while first-year guard Ryan Fogarty (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) also reached double figures in the scoring department with 16 points and shared the team lead in rebounding with four along with senior forward Mike Cannon (New York, N.Y./Hyde School).

Senior guard Eddie Capstick (Worcester, Mass./Marianapolis Prep) added eight points, two assists, a pair of rebounds and a steal to the Lyons' efforts on the afternoon.

MIT senior Andrew Acker (Merion Station, Pa.The Haverford School) paced the Engineers with 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, posting the 19th double-double of his career. Junior guard Ryan Frankel (New York, N.Y./Collegiate School) had 12 points, a game-high seven assists and five rebounds, while classmate Justin Pedley (Kennwick, Wash./Kamiakin) poured in ten points and brought down six caroms.

Senior forward Matt Redfield (Los Altos, Calif./Gunn) also chipped in with eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Wheaton got off to a strong start on both ends of the court, with sophomore center Alex Sugarman (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) blocking a pair of shots on defense and Cannon dropping in a three to lead the Lyons to a 7-1 advantage three and a half minutes into the matchup. MIT came back with an 8-2 spurt to tie the game, as Acker dropped in four points, including his layup that tied it up, 9-9, at the 13-minute mark.

MIT edged out to a five-point lead four minutes later when Acker converted on a three-point play, and then pushed it to a six-point gap on a three by first-year Samson Donick (Tiburon, Calif./Redwood). Donick finished the afternoon with eight points and one rebound.

Wheaton battled back and outscored MIT, 7-1, over the next five minutes, tying the contest for the third time, at 23-23, on a free throw by Capstick.

A three-pointer from senior Nicholas Prus (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) put MIT back on top by three, but Wheaton answered with a trey via Battaglia. Acker and Battaglia then traded baskets in the final minute of the half to leave things knotted at 30-all.

Over the opening minutes of the second half the two teams remained close, with MIT holding just a two-point edge at 38-36 three minutes in. The Engineers then received a pair of three throws from Pedley and a three-ball from Frankel that started a 16-2 run that consumed nearly six minutes off the clock. Six of the points came from Redfield, and his dunk with 9:16 left in the game put MIT up by 16 at 54-38.

That proved to be the deciding run of the game as Wheaton cut its deficit any closer than 13 points the rest of the way. MIT pushed its lead out as far as 20 on a Frankel trey with 4:38 left and the Engineers cruised home the rest of the way.

Wheaton (4-18, 1-11 NEWMAC) will host WPI next on Wednesday on Senior Night at 6 p.m. MIT (16-6, 9-3 NEWMAC) plays its final home game of the regular season on Wednesday in its next outing against Emerson College at 8:00 p.m.

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