Sports Shorts
Men’s Basketball Loses to Western Connecticut, 83-77
Point guard Tyshawn Gillespie posted team highs of 17 points and four assists to lead Western Connecticut to a 83-77 victory over MIT in the opening round of the Emmanuel College Tip-Off Tournament. The Engineers received sizeable contributions from James M. “Jimmy” Bartolotta ’09, Billy Johnson ’09, and Hamidou Soumare ’07 but couldn’t offset the Colonials’ balanced attack and a 40-5 advantage off the bench.
The men’s basketball season-opener on Saturday was tight throughout and featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes. The largest lead of the tilt by either team was a seven-point advantage for the Colonials, which MIT quickly reduced to four after a three-pointer by Bartolotta midway through the second half. The Engineers’ biggest edge of the evening was five with 13 minutes left in the first period.
After battling to a 33-33 tie through the first 20 minutes, both teams picked up the pace in the second half. Bartolotta, who scored 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, kept MIT in contention during a wild second half.
With the Engineers attempting to even the score and time running out in the second half, Western Connecticut guard Dashon Jennings connected on three consecutive baskets from beyond the arc to keep the MIT offense at bay.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
Wrestling Loses to Rhode Island College, 33-12
Grant M. Kadokura ’11, Joseph B. Silverman ’10, and Glenn J. Geesman ’09 all earned convincing wins over Rhode Island College, but MIT lost the overall battle, 33-12, in its first dual meet of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 14. In matches played out, the Engineers equaled the Anchormen in victories, though three forfeits by Tech in the middle matches proved costly.
At 125 pounds, Kadokura gave the Engineers a quick lead, taking a 6-1 decision over Greg Martell. Tech dropped the next two matches, though Kenzan Tanabe ’11 put up a good fight in a 17-10 loss to Mike Bonora at 141 pounds.
After the three giveaways, Silverman won a 6-1 decision over Nick Logan at 184 pounds. Tech suffered another setback, before Geesman, at 285, prevailed by pin in 1:11.
—Mike Stoller, DAPER Staff
Women’s Swimming Topples Babson, Falls to Bowdoin
Nicole M. O’Keeffe ’09 paced MIT’s women’s swimming and diving team with three victories on Saturday afternoon, helping the Engineers earn a split with host Bowdoin College and New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference opponent Babson College. MIT downed Babson, 208-48, but were edged by the Polar Bears, 139-130.
Bowdoin defeated the Beavers, 195-59, in the afternoon’s other match-up.
The Cardinal and Gray stand at 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the NEWMAC following the split, while Bowdoin improved to 2-0 and Babson fell to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
O’Keeffe earned the Engineers’ first victory of the afternoon in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing 1-2 with teammate Rachel E. Price ’10. O’Keeffe clocked in at 11:02.10 to earn top honors, while Price followed closely behind at 11:18.93. O’Keeffe then copped maximum points in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:37.08) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:18.51).
Amy E. Jacobi ’11 also placed first in two swimming events, winning the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.77 before touching the wall first in the 500-yard freestyle with a mark of 5:14.01.
Captain Doria M. Holbrook ’08 continued her march toward a third national title by winning both the one-meter (251.18) and three-meter (255.08) diving competitions.
Last Wednesday night, the Engineers opened its dual meet schedule with a 179-118 victory over NEWMAC foe Wellesley College.
The Engineers will return to action in two weeks’ time, as they will host the MIT Invitational on Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1.
Men’s Swimming Defeats Bowdoin and Babson
MIT’s men’s swimming and diving team opened its dual meet schedule in stunning fashion on Saturday afternoon, winning 13 out of 14 swimming events en route to victories over host Bowdoin College (170-82) and New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference foe Babson College (175-73). Bowdoin defeated Babson, 173-66, in the afternoon’s other match-up.
The Engineers, who boasted the top three finishers in seven different events, improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the NEWMAC with the pair of wins. Meanwhile, the Polar Bears moved to 1-1 with the split and the Beavers fell to 3-4 (0-2 NEWMAC) with the losses.
Jeffrey Y. Zhou ’10, Rastislav Racz ’10, Laurent Charpentier ’10, and Luke R. Cummings ’10 got the afternoon started for MIT with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, touching the wall just over four seconds ahead of teammates Toomas R. Sepp ’11, Deke Hu ’09, Brendon M. Sullivan ’11 and Peter J. Wellings ’09. The two foursomes finished with times of 1:37.00 and 1:41.68, respectively.
Tech then grabbed the top four spots in the 1,000-yard freestyle courtesy of Michael J. Dobson ’11 (10:03.27), Jack Hill ’11 (10:19.04), Harrison K. Hall ’08 (10:31.22) and Colin L. Hom ’11 (10:48.01), before Charpentier and Wellings finished 1-2 in the 200-yard freestyle by clocking in at 1:46.06 and 1:50.56, respectively.
The Cardinal and Gray once again occupied the 1-2-3 positions in the 100-yard breaststroke, as Racz (1:00.04), Kalvin D. Kao ’08 (1:03.44) and John R. Walk ’10 (1:04.42) all touched the wall ahead of their opponents. Other events in which MIT copped the top three finishes included the 100-yard freestyle (Charpentier, Cummings, and Wellings), the 200-yard breaststroke (Racz, Kao, and Walk) and the 100-yard butterfly (Sepp, Hu, and George J. Rossick ’11).
The Engineers’ most impressive performance of the afternoon occurred in the 500-yard freestyle, in which they occupied spots one through five. Dobson picked up his second victory of the afternoon by clocking in at 4:54.54, and was followed by Hill (4:59.35), Udit Garg ’09 (5:09.15), Zachary C. Cordero ’10 (5:11.32), and Eric J. Roselli ’11 (5:15.12).
Zhou won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.80, Cummings took top honors in the 50-yard freestyle by touching the wall at 22.24, and Hu (2:02.21) and Sepp (2:03.57) finished 1-2 in the 200-yard butterfly.
MIT also grabbed the top four spots in the 200-yard individual medley and had the fastest relay team in the 200-yard freestyle relay, but the events counted as exhibitions, as the Engineers had already wrapped up the victories.
The Engineers will return to action in two weeks time at the MIT Invitational on Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1.
Men’s Ice Hockey Downs University of New England, 4-1
Justin D. Myers ’11 scored his first intercollegiate goal and fellow rookie Stephen L. Yablonski ’11 notched his first intercollegiate win between the pipes, as the Engineers defeated the University of New England, 4-1, in NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association Conference A East Division action on Friday night. MIT’s record remained unblemished at 4-0-0 (3-0-0 NECHA) courtesy of the victory, while the Nor’easters fell to 0-5-1 (0-3-0 NECHA).
Ryan W. Ballentine ’09 opened the scoring on a power-play at 12:41 of the first period, finding the net courtesy of feeds from Nicholas R. LaBounty ’09 and Michael C. Kozlowski ’08. Just over one minute later, it was Kozlowski’s turn to score, as he netted the ultimate game-winner with help from Myers and Dustin P. Kendrick ’09.
Exactly halfway through the second period, Kendrick and Ian M. Rousseau ’09 fed Myers for his first-ever tally, while LaBounty rounded out the scoring for the Engineers at 4:08 of the period with assists credited to Ballentine and Kevin M. Farino ’10.
The University of New England, which is maintaining a men’s ice hockey program for the first time since the early 1980s, spoiled Yablonski’s shutout bid with 8:16 remaining in the final period. The Nor’easters’ leading scorer, Chris McCauley, rifled a wrist-shot past the rookie’s blocker after taking a pass from Travis Pease.
Last Wednesday, the Engineers were victorious over Endicott College, 5-0.
The Engineers will return to the ice following a two-week hiatus when they will travel to Worcester, Mass., to take on Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30.