Late Run Pushes MIT into NEWMAC Tournament Final
MIT 50, Babson 39
Worcester, MA --- With the score knotted at 39 apiece, MIT
scored the final 11 points of the game to advance to the NEWMAC
Tournament Championship game with a hard-earned 50-39 win over
sixth-seeded Babson at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium Saturday
Evening. Jimmy Bartolotta (Littleton, CO) scored
six of his team-high 13 points in the final 3:22 to key the win for
the Engineers.
MIT (19-8) will now face fourth-seeded Springfield (15-12) in the
tournament final Sunday at 2:30pm. Babson’s season ends with
a 13-14 record.
Bartolotta scored on three straight layups to give the Engineers a
45-39 edge with 1:11 remaining in the game. A Bradley
Gampel (Miami, FL) steal on the next Babson possession and
free throw allowed MIT to push its lead to 7 with 1:06 to go.
Bartolotta then fed Billy Johnson (Everett, WA)
with a behind-the-back pass for a layup and Gampel canned two more
free throws to wrap up the 11-0 run and clinch the victory for the
Engineers.
The teams played a low-scoring first half, combining for only 37
points. With the score locked up at 6 apiece, MIT rattled off six
straight points on two baskets from Bartolotta and one from Johnson
to take a 12-6 edge at the 8:21 mark. After the Beavers got back to
within two with 2:05 to go, Johnson hit a 3-pointer to push the MIT
lead back up to five at 20-15 with a 1:02 to play. Babson’s
Zach Etten (Hollis, NH) then hit a jumper just
inside the arc at the buzzer to pull back to within three points at
20-17 heading into intermission.
Jamie Karraker (Morgantown, WV) added 12 points
for MIT. Gampel netted nine points, including five from the line.
His eight steals set a new single-game Institute record. Johnson
dropped in eight points and pulled down six rebounds, while
Bartolotta and Gampel each had a team-best four assists.
Etten paced the Beavers with 13 points, while Kris
Noonan (Boothbay Harbor, ME) notched a double-double with
10 points and 11 rebounds for Babson in a losing effort.
Sheldon Ladson (New York, NY) contributed eight
points for Babson.
The NEWMAC Tournament Championship game will tip off Sunday at
2:30pm at WPI’s Harrington Auditorium. The women’s
championship game will immediately precede the Springfield-MIT
game, with a scheduled start time of 12pm.
Story written by Ray Cotrufo ’98 - WPI Athletics Department