United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Men's Basketball

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.—(2/25/09)—MIT freshman Billy Bender tied the game on a basket with 1.6 seconds left in regulation as second-seeded MIT rallied from six-point deficit with under two minutes left and beat seventh-seeded Coast Guard 66-62 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament.

Coast Guard (12-13), the two-time defending NEWMAC Tournament champions, had won a conference record six straight tournament games. The Bears lost their first NEWMAC Tournament game since a 69-57 loss to MIT, three years ago to the day in the semifinals at WPI.

Coast Guard led 54-48 with 1:54 left following a basket by junior Stefan Lewis, but MIT scored six straight including three free throws by Bartolotta with 1:07 left to tie the game 54-54.

Sophomore Jevon James made a pair of free throws with 41.9 seconds left giving Coast Guard a 56-54 lead.

In overtime, senior Jimmy Bartolotta made a pair of free throws with 12.8 seconds left to give the Engineers a 65-62 lead. Coast Guard had a chance to tie, but a 3-point attempt missed and Bartolotta made one of two free throws with 2.3 seconds left to ice the game.

Coast Guard was just two of seven from the foul line in the overtime period and the Bears were 10 of 20 from the line in the game.

Coast Guard trailing 32-16 with 4:50 left in the first half, climbed back into the game with an 11-2 run to end the half, with Johnson accounting for seven of those points, making the score 34-27 at the break.

The Bears then scored the first eight points of the second half, the final four by James, on a dunk and then an offensive rebound and put back, to take their first lead of the game, 35-34 with 17:08 left.

Senior Bradley Gampel made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 40-40 with 12:33 left, before the Bears scored 10 of the next 13 for a 50-43 lead with 5:43 left.

MIT (18-8) jumped out to a 10-1 lead with 15:50 left in the first half and the Engineers pushed the lead to 24-8 with 8:42 left.

The Engineers were 13 for 31 in the first half (41.9 percent) while making six of 16 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes. Coast Guard shot 47.6 percent in the opening half (10-21) while connecting on three of eight from behind the arc.

The Bears were 24 of 56 from the floor in the game (42.9 percent) while making four of 17 from 3-point range.

MIT was held to 25 percent in the second half and shot 35 percent (21-60) in the game. The Engineers were nine of 33 from 3-point range.

Bartolotta had a game-high 21 points and a team-high 12 rebounds to lead MIT, senior Billy Johnson added 16 points while freshman Jamie Karraker had 15 points.

Johnson led Coast Guard with 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. James and sophomore Trip Fernandes each added 11 for the Bears. James also had 10 rebounds in the loss.

Johnson set the single-season school record with 518 points breaking his own record of 507 set during the 2005-06 season. He finishes his career as the Bears all-time leading scorer with 1,715 points and he is third all-time at the Academy with 898 rebounds.