MSOE outsmarts MIT 69-64
| Published: 11/24/2008 |
|
|
|---|
Milwaukee, Wis.-In the Engineers classic championship game, good decision making led the MSOE men's basketball team over the MIT Engineers 69-64. Senior forward Jamel Sabree led MSOE with 29 points and received Most Valuable Player honors. Sabree was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Jeremy Off and Austin Meier. Off scored 25 points and 11 rebounds, while the MSOE forward Meier scored four points and had five steals in the upset over MIT.
For the Engineers of MIT, Division III second team All America Jimmy Bartolotta scored 21 points, while Billy Johnson scored 18 points and five rebounds. Both Bartollota and Johnson were all tournament selections.
In the first half, MSOE's Jamel Sabree dominated in the paint, scoring 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 from the foul line, while Off had nine points as the Raiders were in charge, 35-29 at the half. MIT held their own as Billy Johnson led the Engineers with 12 points, hitting 3-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point line. MIT's Bartolotta scored 11 points in the first stanza.
Despite being in control for most of the second half, the Raiders could not escape MIT's grasp until late in the game. Down 40-32 with 16:18 remaining, the Engineers went on a 17-5 run, taking the lead 49-45 with 10:24 remaining in the game. The 6-4 center Off scored the next six points for the Raiders bringing them to within one point.
With 6:29 left in the game, Tyler Morgen hit a key three point shot giving MSOE a 54-52 lead. MIT tied the game on a layup by Bartolotta, but they never regained the lead. Foul trouble plagued MIT the rest of the way as the 6-8 forward Johnson fouled out with four minutes remaining while 6-7 center Hamidou Soumare joined Johnson on the bench with a minute left in the game. MSOE had the lead 68-62 with under a minute left when Bartollota hit another layup and in the next possession, was fouled, sending him to the line with MIT down 68-64. On his first free throw attempt, Bartollotta tried to rocket the ball off the backboard and recover his own shot, but it missed rim completely, giving MSOE the ball. In the next possession, MSOE's Bennett Deacon was fouled, sending him to the line. He connected on one of two shots from the charity stripe as MSOE pulled off the upset 69-64 over the Engineers.
The third time is a charm for the Raiders as this is their third final in the Engineers Classic and their first title in the event. MSOE continues their thanksgiving break play as they head to Ashland, Wis. to take on Northland College on Tuesday, November 25. Tipoff is set for 7pm.
