December 2, 2004

Dec. 2, 2004

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Senior Adam Gibbons was the best player on the floor Thursday night, totaling a game-high 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead MIT (4-2) to a 69-59 victory over Gordon College (4-1) in Rockwell Cage. A hot start had the Fighting Scots up by 13 just five minutes into the game, but the Engineers responded with their best shooting night of the campaign en route to the upset.

 

The Fighting Scots executed their offense with precision in the early moments of the game. Gordon connected on its first six shots, and with 14:58 left in the opening half, held a commanding 16-3 lead. It was an ominous beginning for the Cardinal Red and Silver Gray, which was facing a unit that came into the tilt without a blemish on its record.

 

It was Tech's tri-captain, Adam Gibbons, who sparked MIT's initial rally. Gibbons knocked down a three, made two free throws, forced a steal and finished on a fast-break lay up in a span of 1:30 to erase most of the damage. Another short run highlighted by Phil Murray's steal and fast-break basket evened the ledger, and when Gibbons canned a jumper for the wing at 2:56 in the first half, MIT enjoyed its first lead of the night at 30-29.

 

Gibbons and Murray teamed again near the end of the half as Murray finished on Gibbons' steal and assist to push the Engineers in front 36-32 at the break.

 

MIT opened with the hot hand in the second half, building a 42-32 advantage with just over 16 minutes left to play. Mike Herr kept the Scots in the game with a tremendous offensive performance. The Gordon sophomore had five three's and closed with 22 points. He also paced Gordon with a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman Jon Marstaller, who was instrumental in getting Gordon ahead in the first, finished with 15 points and five rebounds.

 

Except for the first five minutes, the game belonged to MIT, which outscored the Scots 66-43 the rest of the way. Both teams shot well, but MIT made good on a season-high 46 percent of its shots from the field. Junior Mike D'Auria added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Mike Huhs added 10 points and six boards.

 

Behind the shooting of Herr and Marstaller, Gordon closed the gap and briefly held the lead with seven minutes to go. However, continued pressure from the MIT offense outpaced the Gordon attack in the waning moments of regulation.