Sports Shorts
Women’s Basketball Crushes Fisher, 59-29
In the inaugural meeting between both programs, the MIT women’s basketball team defeated Fisher College, 59-29, on Saturday. With the win, the Engineers improved to 3-4 on the year while the Falcons fell to 1-8.
MIT opened the game with four straight points before a lay-up by Tiffany Beckman put Fisher on the board. After trading baskets, the Engineers went on a 20-2 run that resulted in a 27-6 advantage at the 5:40 mark. A jumper by Shatia Roberts ended a six-minute scoring drought for the Falcons with 4:35 on the clock. The remainder of the half was evenly played as MIT led, 37-16, at the break.
The balanced scoring continued into the second stanza as a three-point play by Briana Roberts brought Fisher within 45-23 at 13:30. A basket by Kristen E. Whaley ’11 on the Engineers’ ensuing possession sparked a 10-0 run which resulted in their largest lead (57-23) with less than six minutes to play. Briana Roberts and Beckman combined for the Falcons’ final six points as MIT’s Amy Qian ’11 capped the scoring.
Last week, the MIT women’s basketball team defeated Albertus Magnus College, 53-49, and fell to Emmanuel College, 77-53.
MIT will continue non-conference play at Gordon College on Wednesday, Dec. 12.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff
Amherst Defeats Men’s Basketball, 66-60
Brian Baskauskas scored a team-high 16 points, including 10 late in the second half, as top-ranked Amherst narrowly defeated the MIT men’s basketball team on Thursday. The Lord Jeffs, who are the defending NCAA Division III national champions, kept their perfect record intact with a 66-60 victory.
James M. “Jimmy” Bartolotta ’09 led MIT (6-3) to a 34-26 lead at halftime after closing the opening period 7-of-10 from the floor for 16 points. Bartolotta finished the evening with a game-high 27 points as well as a game-best five assists but was unable to off-set an offensive attack by Amherst (6-0).
The Lord Jeffs shot 57 percent from the field for the game and were 13-of-22 in the second half. Baskauskas delivered two treys and Andrew Olson added three more, all in the final 20 minutes, to help Amherst recover from a disappointing first half that left the home crowd stunned.
Behind its outstanding perimeter play, Amherst began to assert control and maintained a three-possession lead throughout most of the second half. After Glen Wong converted a lay-up with 4:40 left in regulation, the Lord Jeffs extended their advantage to a game-high 12 points by moving in front, 60-48.
MIT quieted the packed LeFrak by climbing back into contention with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes that left the Engineers trailing by just a basket. Bradley H. Gampel ’09 had two of his game-high five steals during the stretch, while Will D. Mroz ’08 and Willard J. “Billy” Johnson ’09 each drained a shot from beyond the arc.
Despite drawing triple coverage, Bartolotta sliced through the defense for two lay-ups that left Amherst ahead, 62-60. After making another defensive stop, Bartolotta had a chance to tie the game with a third consecutive basket in the paint, but his left-handed drive rolled just off the rim and set the stage for Brandon Jones, who knocked down four straight free throws to ice the battle.
“We knew that Amherst wasn’t going to just go away in the second half so we wanted to maintain our energy,” Associate Head Coach Oliver W. Eslinger said. “Although we found ourselves down 12 in the final minutes and could have easily given up, we gave ourselves a chance to win with our defensive pressure.”
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
Men’s Ice Hockey Defeats Bryant, 2-1
The MIT men’s ice hockey team defeated Bryant University, 2-1, in NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association Conference A East Division action on Friday. The victory improved MIT’s record to 6-1-0 overall and a division-best 4-1-0 in the NECHA East as it heads into the winter break, while Bryant fell to 8-7-0 overall and 1-2-0 in the division.
Michael J. Rosensweig ’11 put the Engineers on top, 1-0, with his first intercollegiate goal and point at 6:35 of the opening period courtesy of a Kevin M. Farino ’10 pass. Farino leads all Tech defensemen with two goals and two assists, totaling four points.
The hosts leveled the score at one apiece just under five minutes into the second period, when junior forward Jeremy Link fed fellow junior Joseph Oullette, who directed the puck past MIT goaltender Thomas A. Hopkins G.
However, Tech’s stellar offense restored the Engineers’ lead with 16:34 remaining in regulation, as Nicholas R. LaBounty ’09 scored the game-winning goal. Ryan W. Ballentine ’09, who leads the team with 12 assists, provided the assist as LaBounty found the back of the net for a team-leading ninth time.
The Engineers’ next game will be on Wednesday, Jan. 16, when they will host Bridgewater State College at 7 p.m.
—Jeff Lemieux, DAPER Staff
Men’s Swimming Beats Wheaton, 224-48
Behind three wins each from Laurent Charpentier ’10, Rastislav Racz ’10, and Michael J. Dobson ’11, MIT men’s swimming and diving team eased to a 224-48 victory over New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference foe Wheaton College on Saturday. The Engineers won 13 of the 14 swimming events and both diving events in a contest that was selected as SwimmingWorldMagazine.com’s Meet of the Week.
MIT improved its dual meet record to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the NEWMAC this season with the triumph, while Wheaton fell to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
The Cardinal and Gray had the top-two finishing quartets in both of the afternoon’s relay events. Jeffrey Y. Zhou ’10 and Luke R. Cummings ’10 teamed up with Charpentier and Racz to take top honors in the meet’s opening event, the 200-yard medley relay, with a time of 1:37.26. They were followed in second place by Peter J. Wellings ’09, Deke Hu ’09, Toomas R. Sepp ’11 and Kalvin D. Kao ’08 — a group which clocked in at 1:41.98. The Engineers performed a similar feat in the afternoon’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Zhou, Dobson, Cummings, and Trace U. Sauter ’11 were the victors, touching the wall first at 3:19.75, while Charpentier, Wellings, Brendon M. Sullivan ’11, and Eric J. Roselli ’11 copped runner-up honors by finishing with a time of 3:20.58.
Charpentier, Racz, and Dobson each picked up two individual victories as well. Charpentier took first-place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.02, while teammate Cummings finished right behind at 22.08. Charpentier also won the 100-yard butterfly, who touched the wall in 53.18 to beat out the competition. Racz won both the 100-yard (1:00.89) and 200-yard (2:14.45) breaststroke events, while Dobson finished first in both the 500-yard (4:48.62) and 1,000-yard (10:02.94) freestyles. Racz led a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, as he was followed by Kao (2:17.71) and Hu (2:18.20),. Dobson’s top time in the 1,000-yard freestyle was trailed by Jack Hill ’11 (10:19.65), Harrison K. Hall ’08 (10:27.95), and Roselli (10:50.42) to give Tech the top four finishers.
MIT’s swimmers engineered three more 1-2-3 finishes on the afternoon, beginning with Kao (1:48.87), Hu (1:52.35) and Zachary C. Cordero ’10 (1:52.63) in the 200-yard freestyle. The Cardinal and Gray did the same in the 100-yard backstroke (Wellings, Sepp, Sauter) and the 400-yard individual medley (Kao, Hu, Hill).
The Engineers’ other swimming triumphs came in the 100-yard freestyle, which Wellings won with a time of 49.10, and the 200-yard backstroke, in which Sepp touched the wall first at 2:07.09.
Carson J. Darling ’11 won both the one-meter and three-meter diving events, scoring 202.20 points and 205.45 points, respectively, though he dove without a competitor from Wheaton.
—Jeff Lemeiux, DAPER Staff
Women’s Swimming Splits NEWMAC Dual Meet
The MIT women’s swimming and diving team’s match-up with New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference foe Wheaton College lived up to its billing as the SwimmingWorldMagazine.com Meet of the Week. For the second straight year, the final relay decided the dual meet. Unfortunately for Tech, the result remained the same, as the host Lyons held on for a 151-148 victory over the Engineers on Saturday afternoon for the second consecutive campaign. However, the sting of the loss was partially mitigated by MIT’s 205.50-92.50 win over the meet’s other NEWMAC competitor, Smith College.
The Cardinal and Gray moved to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the NEWMAC with the split. The Lyons improved to 6-2 (4-1 NEWMAC) with the pair of victories, while the Pioneers fell to 3-3 (0-3 NEWMAC).
With the score at 147-135 in favor of Wheaton heading into the final event — the 400-yard freestyle relay — the Engineers knew that they needed to secure the top two times to earn the victory. Ariadne G. Smith ’10, Abigail M. Clark ’09, Jacquelyn M. Nowicke ’08, and Amy E. Jacobi ’11 — a group swimming as MIT’s “B” team — earned first place and the maximum points with a time of 3:43.39. Unfortunately for MIT, Wheaton’s top team clocked in just 0.07 seconds later to grab second-place and wrap up the victory.
Nicole M. O’Keeffe ’09 and Jacobi each picked up two individual triumphs to pace the Engineers. O’Keeffe clocked in at 10:54.04 in the 1,000-yard freestyle to claim first place before doing the same in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:46.69. Jacobi earned victories in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.27) and the 100-yard butterfly (59.74), beating out second-place finisher Dania Piscetta of Wheaton by 0.01 seconds in the latter.
Sasha B. Brophy ’08 earned MIT’s other individual win, touching the wall fastest in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:24.39.
The Cardinal and Gray was hurt by the absence of Doria M. Holbrook ’08 on the diving boards, as the 2005 and 2007 three-meter diving national champion did not compete.
—Jeff Lemieux, DAPER Staff