Sports Shorts
Men’s Basketball Storms Past Springfield, 89-64
Preseason All-American James M. “Jimmy” Bartolotta ’09 led the MIT men’s basketball team to an 89-64 victory over Springfield College by scoring 33 points against the Pride in a NEWMAC contest at Springfield’s Blake Arena.
MIT is now 12-4 overall and 4-0 in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference, the first time it has ever begun conference play with a 4-0 record. The Engineers have won five in a row overall.
MIT led by 20 at the half (55-35), when this game was really decided. The closest Springfield came in the second half was within 15 points on two occasions, the last with 5:08 remaining (77-62) on a three-pointer by John Strawson. But MIT ended on a 12-2 run to finish it off.
After all was said and done, Bartolotta scored 33 points, adding four rebounds, two assists, and a block for the game. He was 10-for-14 from the floor, 5-of-7 from 3-point range, and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe in just 27 minutes of work. Willard J. “Billy” Johnson ’09 scored 22 points and added five rebounds and two steals. James D. Karraker ’12 was the third double-figure scorer for MIT with 13 points, while fellow rookie William E. Bender ’12 scored eight points, and added three assists and three steals.
As a team, MIT made 13-of-24 three-point attempts, for an outstanding 54.2 percent.
The 89 points and 25-point margin of victory were the most ever by an MIT team against Springfield, while the Engineers also set an Institute record for the most points scored in a conference game.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
Women’s Swimming Splits Against Coast Guard and Springfield
The women’s swimming and diving team capped a busy weekend with a split against NEWMAC rivals Springfield College and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The Engineers topped the Bears, 199-100, while falling to the Pride, 157-143, moving to 5-2 for the season.
Springfield scored the decisive blow after winning the 400 free relay despite sophomore Amy E. Jacobi’s 53.6 second anchor leg for MIT. Jacobi enjoyed a terrific afternoon at home, impressively winning the 100-meter freestyle in 54.65 seconds, while leading a 2-3-4 split in the 50-meter freestyle. Jacobi swam in 25.10 seconds, with Ashley E. Pinchinat ’10 and Sarah B. King ’10 touching just behind her. Springfield’s Moira Price won the hotly contested race with a time of 25.05 seconds.
Jacobi delivered a strong start for the Engineers on Sunday with her split of 24.6 seconds to anchor MIT’s winning 200 medley relay. Allison M. Alwan ’12, Abigail M. Clark ’09, and Jennifer A. Chao ’09 completed the unit, which won the race with a time of 1:53.70.
Chao added to her first-place totals for the weekend by sweeping the fly events for the second consecutive day. Chao swam 1:00.61 in the 100-meter and 2:14.10 in the 200-meter. MIT secured two more wins on the afternoon as Nicole O’Keeffe ’09 crushed the field en route to a win in the 1000 (10:42.56), while rookie Sydney A. Giblin ’12 finished first in the 200 individual medley (2:16.75).
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff
No. 11 MIT Men’s Swimming Tops Coast Guard and Springfield
Once again, the MIT men’s swimming and diving team flexed its muscles in Zesiger Pool, improving to 6-0 on the season after netting decisive victories against conference foes Springfield and Coast Guard. The Engineers, who are ranked 11th in the latest national poll, defeated Springfield, 197.5-100.5 and Coast Guard, 179-117.
Jeffrey Y. Zhou ’10 finished in 52.45 seconds, as the Engineers swept the top four places in the 100 fly, with Deke Hu ’09, Brett L. Boval ’12, and Toomas R. Sepp ’11 touching the wall next. Following the stunning win, Matthew R. Chapa ’12 led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 IM. Chapa finished in 1:59.34 with James S. Griffin ’12 and Timothy J. Stumbaugh ’12 grabbing second and third, respectively. Capping the meet with a strong win in the 400 free relay, Luke R. Cummings ’10 ignited the team with a lead-off split of 47.00 seconds, while Laurent Charpentier ’10 followed Peter J. Wellings ’09 and Andrew W. Pierson ’12 with an anchor split of 46.40 seconds.
Stumbaugh out-dueled teammate Ryan N. Terbush ’12 to win the 100-meter backstroke in 53.27 seconds before nabbing a significant victory in the 200-meter backstroke (1:56.27).
Stumbaugh wasn’t the only MIT swimmer to collect two individual wins, as Cummings and Michael J. Dobson ’11 each accomplished the feat. Dobson swept the distance races, going 4:48.31 in the 500-meter and 10:03.27 in the 1,000-meter. Cummings handled the free sprints; he split 21.38 seconds to hold off Zhou in the 50-meter, and finished just ahead of Charpentier in the 100-meter with a winning split of 47.04 seconds.
Charpentier picked up a win of his own earlier in the day after swimming 1:44.81 in the 200-meter freestyle. He also sparked a blistering back end to the Engineers’ winning the 200 medley relay with a fly split of 22.9 seconds. Cummings anchored in 20.9 seconds, with Zhou and Rastislav Racz ’10 combining to finish in 1:36.46.
Chapa won the 200 fly for the second consecutive day, splitting 1:57.49 to nab MIT’s 12th event victory of the meet.
—James Kramer, DAPER Staff