NEW LONDON, Conn.  -  The Coast Guard Academy men's basketball team earned a big win earlier today with an 84-68 besting of MIT in NEWMAC action. With the win, Coast Guard breaks a six-game losing streak and hands the Engineers sole possession of last place in the league standings.

The Bears improve to 8-13 (4-8 NEWMAC) and avenge their prior loss this season at MIT, while the team from Cambridge moves to 9-13 (3-10 NEWMAC). The Engineers will stay home for their next one on Wednesday, February 12th, as they host crosstown rivals Emerson College (9-12, 4-8 NEWMAC), who came out on top in an 87-73 first meeting between the two teams earlier this season.

Before the game, Coast Guard honored their senior class: Adryan Herron (St. Leonard, Md.), Cameron Brown (Ellicott City, Md.), Bryce VanderWiere (Schoolcraft, Mich.), Ben Yagey (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), and Declan Rooney (Seattle, Wash.). The group of five were recognized for their contributions to the Bears men's basketball program as on-court and off-court leaders.

The festivities prefaced what would be a hard-fought first ten minutes of action that saw Coast Guard take a 24-17 lead. Junior guard Trevor Parks (Oldsmar, Fla.) was a catalyst off the bench to start the game, splashing two three-pointers while grabbing two rebounds and recording an assist and a steal.

Following an MIT timeout at 9:20, the Bears took the ensuing five minutes to make some space with a 16-9 run, eventually going into halftime holding a 50-35 lead. Defensive pressure was the big factor for the NEWMAC's second-best defense, who held an 11-4 advantage on turnovers in the first half and outscored MIT, 18-6, in points off of lost possessions. One of those scores was a thunderous fastbreak dunk by junior forward Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.), which was set up by a trap steal from fellow junior Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.).

Farrell and Yagey shared the Coast Guard lead in points at the break, tallying 11 each in a pair of efficient performances at that point. Parks would hit one more three-pointer to make up most of his ten points. The Engineers were being carried by sophomore Merlin Gogolin (New York, N.Y.) who had 21 thanks to a big half on the interior.

The second half played out similarly to the first half. The two teams remained mostly in step as Coast Guard outscored the guests, 23-15, through the first ten minutes. MIT would attempt to turn it around but came up short, scoring 18 and limiting the Bears to 11 during their late comeback attempt. Despite the Engineers going 5-9 (55.6%) in those final ten minutes, Coast Guard had put themselves in excellent position by limiting their opposition to 4-16 (25.0%) in the minutes leading up to the run.

The Bears played superior defense throughout the afternoon, tallying seven blocks and eight steals to MIT's respective two and three; one of those blocks for Coast Guard was a gravity-defying swat by Herron in the first half to deter a Gogolin mid-range attempt. The Bears would finish the game with 28 points off of 20 Engineers turnovers, and the hosts' 33-67 (49.3%) rate from the field was their fourth-best of the year and their highest mark since their first match-up against MIT this season back in January.

Yagey would finish with the team-lead in points, scoring 20 (8-14 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-2 FT); he was followed by Farrell's 18, while Rooney also broke double-digits with 14 points alongside six rebounds and three blocks. On the other end, Gogolin had a game-high 31 points (13-22 FG, 5-10 FT). Teammates Isaac Dobie (Kitty Hawk, N.C.) and Mike Ewing (Mendham, N.J.) had 11 each, with Ewing scoring his in just eight minutes on the floor.

Men's basketball will hit the road for their next contest, traveling on Wednesday to face Springfield College. The Bears earned an 85-76 victory in their first meeting of the season against the Pride, which was also Coast Guard's most recent win before today's. Six Bears reached double-digits in the win, led by Parent's 16 and Rooney's 14 while the remaining four all had 12.