By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
With just nine minutes left in the game, the Pride men’s basketball team held a narrow lead over the Engineers of MIT 58-55. The game had been neck-and-neck up to that point, but then the Pride began to strike.
Josh Hartley scored five straight points for Springfield, before blocking a shot on the other end, leading to a Jarron Flynn layup in transition. After forcing a stop, Hartley connected on a layup attempt and got fouled in the process, sinking the and-one free throw. Both teams traded stops before first-year forward Cedric Rodriguez found himself open in the right corner, and buried the 3-pointer off an assist from point guard John Paulino.
That bucket widened the Springfield lead to 12 points, and they did not relinquish that lead, starting their NEWMAC conference play with a 83-75 win over MIT. Head coach Michael McClendon was very pleased with his team’s effort, on both sides of the ball.
“They wanted to win,” McClendon said. “They had the will, and they had the determination.”
Both sides traded baskets in the first half, with neither team grabbing a lead of more than three points.
There were a few highlight plays, including a posterizing dunk from Flynn, but neither team was able to find the separation needed to pull away as the Engineers held a narrow 34-31 lead. But McClendon saw some areas that he thought his team could exploit after the break.
“The first half, we were kind of going through the motions,” McClendon said. “We weren’t playing to our keys and our preparation to how we were trying to defend them.”
But in the second half, the Pride were a different animal.
They came out strong, Springfield opening a lead of its own at the beginning of the second half by forcing some turnovers and getting some easy looks at the basket.
They shot only 12 3-pointers in the contest, compared to the teams average of 17 per game coming in. Those close looks at the hoop helped the Pride get going offensively.
“If we can execute, and get the ball from left-to-right a couple times, the lane gets open, shooters get open,” McClendon said.
After opening their lead to double digits, the Pride did not slow down. They played with an intensity greater than the Engineers, and tried to mitigate some of their shooting advantages with physicality, led by Hartley.
Hartley is usually the backup center, but with Curtiss Blische being sidelined with an ankle injury, he was thrust into the starting lineup. Hartley delivered the best game of his career tonight with 17 points, nine rebounds (six offensive) and four steals, all while drawing nine fouls on MIT. The 17 points and four steals represented career-bests for Hartley.
“Josh is one of those kids that will do anything and everything for you,” McClendon said. “You tell him what to do, he’ll do it. If you want him to rebound, he’ll get every rebound. If you want him to score, he’ll find ways to score. His energy is infectious to everybody, and he played great defense down the stretch.”
Hartley was part of a six-man group for Springfield, including fellow starters Paulino, Rodriguez, Flynn, Xoren Livingston and sixth-man Josiah Evely that played all but two minutes in the second half, and that shorter second half rotation was something McClendon just felt was right during the game.
“As coaches, you want to give guys breaks and try to use the bench, but in the game situation like that, they told me that they wanted it and they wanted to play,” McClendon said. “They said ‘Hey coach, I don’t need to come out, I don’t need a break.’ It wasn’t that I didn’t trust going deep in the second half, they were just giving me the rhythm that we needed, and as a coach, you just have to stick with what’s working.”
Despite some difficulties at the free throw line, where they shot 20-35 (57%), the Pride hung on, using their ferocious and aggressive defense to disrupt the MIT offense.
Hartley wasn’t the only player to deliver a great performance on the night, as the wing duo of Livingston and Flynn had 23 and 19 points respectively, with Livingston’s 23-point effort also marking a career high.
The Pride are back in action next on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Blake Arena, where they will take on Emmanuel, a game the Pride won by 13 on the road last season.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics.