Coast Guard Loses Two Basketball Games

The Coast Guard Academy basketball teams dropped two games on Wednesday, falling to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Springfield College. The following information was provided by Jason Southard, sports information director at the Coast Guard Academy:

Men's Basketball: Springfield 72, Coast Guard 63

Senior Alex Berthiaume had 17 of his game-high 28 points in the first half leading Springfield to a hard fought 72-63 win over Coast Guard in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game.

Springfield improves to 14-6 overall and 6-2 in league play while the Bears drop to 7-11 overall and 1-7 in the NEWMAC.

Berthiaume had eight points in the first six minutes as Springfield led 15-8 with 14:09 left in the first half. The Pride led 22-13 following a trey by Berthiaume with 10:01 left before the Bears went on a 13-2 run taking their first lead of the game 26-24 on a bucket by sophomore Kevin Sowers with 3:59 left in the first half to end the run.

Springfield outscored the Bears 10-2 to end the half and take a 34-28 lead into the break.

The Bears shot 40.7 percent in the first half (11-27) while making just one of six from three-point range while Springfield shot 37.5 percent (12-32) from the floor and made three of 12 from behind the arc in the opening stanza.

Coast Guard used an 11-2 run early in the second half to regain the lead 40-38 following a basket by junior Jimmy Knudsen with 15:44 to play.

Berthiaume’s old fashion three-point play gave the Pride a 43-40 lead and senior Jordan Rote knocked down a three-pointer to cap a 10-3 spurt and the Pride led 48-43 with 14:10 left in the game and never looked back.

Springfield finished 24 of 57 from the floor (42.1 percent) while making five of 20 from behind the arc while the Bears were 24 of 56 from the floor (42.9 percent) and made three of nine from three-point range.

Junior Greg Marshall led the Bears with 18 points while sophomore Kevin Sowers added 14 and freshman David Anderson finished with 13 point off the bench. Sophomore John Benedict had a season-high nine rebounds to go with his seven points.

Rote added 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the win while senior Ryan Coburn had 11 points.

Women's Basketball: MIT 45, Coast Guard 34

Solid defensive play that generated 19 points off of 19 first-half Coast Guard turnovers propelled host MIT to a 45-34 victory in a NEWMAC women’s basketball game on Wednesday night.

The win not only ended the Engineers’ three-game skid but also resulted in their second consecutive series sweep of the Bears. Freshman Mari Kordell registered a game-high 13 points and five assists while fellow classmate Alexxis Isaac racked up 12 points, 12 rebounds, and four steals for MIT.

Freshman Victoria Gurtler led Coast Guard’s balanced attack with nine points to go along with six rebounds.

Freshman Brittney Zimmerman opened the scoring by knocking down what proved to be Coast Guard’s only three-pointer of the night. A layup by Kordell on MIT’s ensuing possession sparked a 13-2 run that put the hosts ahead for good.

The Bears responded by slowly chipping away at the deficit and eventually came within three (17-14) courtesy of freshman Jamie Waterman’s layup at the 6:38 mark. In addition, sophomore Alexa Hunko’s four-of-four performance from the charity stripe during the rally helped keep Coast Guard within striking distance.

The Engineers replied by scoring nine of the last 11 points of the half as sophomore Sharon Hao’s jumper gave the hosts a 26-16 lead at the half.

The Cardinal and Gray wasted little time extending its advantage in the second half, capitalizing on a Kordell layup and a trey courtesy of sophomore Margo Batie resulting in its largest margin of the game at 15 points. Despite the deficit the Bears continued to attack, narrowing the gap to eight on three occasions, the last at 41-33 with 4:43 left to play. On MIT’s next trip down the court, Kordell was sent to the free throw line where she converted both of her attempts.

The game would remain scoreless until Isaac’s put-back on a missed free throw fell in with 14 seconds on the clock. Gurtler capped the scoring by draining the first of her two free throws with 3.8 ticks remaining.

Sophomore Kaitlin Ward tallied seven points, five rebounds, and four steals as freshman Alexi Howland (Latham, N.Y.) registered four points, four boards, and two assists. Waterman chipped in five rebounds and four points while sophomore Larla Brown tacked on six rebounds.