The First Show!

By Bill Cobb

Today marked the first airing of Cougar Chat, the R.O.C.U. Clark Athletics Radio Talk Show. I was joined in studio by Max Bogaert and Chris Wiklund, while Jim Callahan called in to report live from Arizona where he is with the Patriots as they prep for the Super Bowl this Sunday. Due to some technical difficulties the first few minutes of our show was cut out, but once the ball got rolling, it all went smoothly. In this week's show:

• Recaps of all the Cougar action, including the women's basketball double-overtime loss to Coast Guard Academy on Saturday, the men's basketball defeat at the hands of MIT, and the men's and women's swimming and diving teams' successful campaigns at the Holy Cross invitational.
• Previews of the upcoming games of the week, including women's basketball facing conference foes Springfield and Smith on Wednesday and Saturday at the Kneller, men's basketball traveling to Babson, and the swim and dive teams heading to Coast Guard.
• Jim Callahan called in to talk about his week with the Patriots in Arizona and Media Day with both teams.
• Max, Chris and I provided our own insight to the Super Bowl match-up, going over the questions regarding Tom Brady's foot, a Giant amount of vomit on a plane, and our Fearless Predictions for the final score.
• Max gave insight to the Celtics' loss of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and brought up the apparent end of discussions for signing Damon Stoudamire.
  
• Chris discussed the trade between the Twins and the Mets involving perennial All-Star Johan Santana for four prospects. Max and I chimed in with our own thoughts about the effect on the Red Sox and Yankees.

Overall I'd say our first show was a great success. We all enjoyed the experience and hope you'll all join us next week and every week, Tuesday nights at 9 PM. Join us next week when Jim returns to the studio with all the coverage of the Super Bowl straight from Arizona, and of course all your Clark Cougar News!

Coast Guard Outlasts Women's Basketball in 2OT Thriller

The Clark University women’s basketball team played a hard-fought battle against the United States Coast Guard Academy at the Kneller Athletic Center on Alumni Day Saturday afternoon. Clark has now dropped three straight to sink to 6-10 overall (2-3 NEWMAC). The Bears extended their NEWMAC unbeaten streak to 6-0 (13-2 overall) with an 86-76 double-overtime victory.

Sarah Roderigue put up a season-high 28 points with five rebounds in the loss. Sara Hagstrom contributed 11 points and 6 assists, and Nicole LeVecque and Katie McCloskey each scored nine to pace the Cougar offense. Melissa Martinelli achieved a career-high 32 points with 15 rebounds and Natalie Moyer notched a season-high 30 points with 8 rebounds to secure the victory.

The Cougars found themselves down 6-1 early following a lay-up from Natalie Moyer, owner of 10 first-half points, but a jumper from Roderigue and consecutive threes from Sara Hagstrom and Roderigue gave Clark the three-point edge, their only lead in the half.

DeCarol Davis answered the call with a three of her own to knot the game at 9-all, and Coast Guard used the momentum shift to slowly build a lead. Back-to-back shots from deep by Jennifer Tamminen and Moyer put the Bears up by nine (22-13), but the Cougars took advantage of turnovers to fight back within three (24-21) following a pair of free throws by Roderigue.

An unusual play occurred with 3:45 to go in the first half when the referees called a double foul. Coast Guard’s Melissa Martinelli was called for an offensive foul at the same time Clark’s Blaize Denfield was stamped with a foul. The double foul resulted in a point of interruption, leaving the ball in Coast Guard’s possession without resetting the shot clock.

Following the stop the Bears pulled away again with eight unanswered points to go up 32-21 with 3:00 left in the half. After trading baskets for the next few minutes, a jumper from Roderigue with 0:12 left to play moved Clark within single digits (36-27) heading into the break.

Clark came roaring out of the gate at the start of the second half, using a 13-2 run to take a 40-38 lead, their first since 5:48 into the game. Nicole LeVecque drained a pair of threes, including the go-ahead score, during the run. Clark pulled to a seven point advantage (51-44) with a three from Sara Hagstrom, but Melissa Martinelli teamed up with Moyer to bring the Bears back within one (56-55).

Kristin Healy and Katie McCloskey each knocked down a three to regain the seven-point spread (62-55), but Moyer sank a clutch three within one minute remaining to bring the score within one possession. A lay-up from Corienne McCormack with six seconds to play in regulation sent this one to overtime.

In the first overtime Martinelli came on strong in the paint, scoring eight of Coast Guard’s ten points in the extra period. After the Bears took a quick four-point lead to start the extended time, Healy hit another clutch three to move within one (66-65). With under a minute to play Martinelli put Coast Guard up 72-70 with a drive to the basket, but Roderigue was fouled with 0:20 to go and stayed calm at the line, knocking down both attempts to tie the score at 72-all and push the game into the second overtime.

In the second overtime Moyer dropped a three pointer for a five-point Coast Guard lead and followed it up just over a minute later with a hard-fought lay-up to go up seven (79-72) with just 2:37 remaining. Clark tried to come back with a three from Hagstrom to pull within five (81-76), but they could not make up the difference. Free throws ended the game for Coast Guard 86-76.

The Clark squad shot well from three-point range in the loss, going 13-35 from deep, including 9-16 in the second half. Playing without star forward Jillian Camilleri, the Cougars were vulnerable in the paint, where Coast Guard scored 34 points to Clark’s six.

Clark Men Sunk by MIT

By Chris Wiklund

The Clark Men’s Basketball team took their 9-7 record to the court against the 11-6 squad from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last Saturday. The Cougars kept pace with the Engineers but trailed through most of the game and fell by a final score of 87-80.

Much first half was a battle between Clark’s Peter Normandin and Pat Landers against the 6’7” foward Hamidou Soumare. The Clark forwards had their hands full with the much taller Soumare as the MIT guards utilized frequent lob passes into the low post and let Soumare convert the lay-in on his way to 16 first half points for the Engineers.

Normandin scored a team high nine points in the first half of play and pulled down two rebounds with three assists. Landers also lead the attack in the first half, scoring seven points and providing key defense against the Engineer attack in the paint. The Clark bench outscored their MIT counterparts 9-2 in the first half and keeping the game within reach and Clark’s big guns rested.

The Cougars enjoyed a slim lead early in the game after Normandin won the opening tip-off and put back a rebound for the game’s first points. Moments later he came up with a steal and dished the ball to Mark Alexander for the 4-0 lead. The two teams exchanged leads until ten minutes into the half Ochoa hit a three to put Clark on top 19-18. The lead was short lived, however, as precision shots from MIT’s Jimmy Bartolotta, who was five of six from three point range en route to a game-high 33 points, Billy Johnson, and Will Mroz put the Engineers back on top where they would stay for the rest of the half.

With the Cougars down 39-30 with just over three and a half to play in the period, MIT’s Hamidou Soumare, who had already dunked the ball earlier in the half, broke down the floor after a Clark turnover and went for his second dunk of the night. This time he failed and the ball bounced off the rim and back onto the floor—a scene which would be repeated later in the second half. The home crowd erupted in mock cheers and the Cougars seemed to take the failed attempt personally. MIT inbounded the ball and a pressing Lopiano positioned himself to take the charge and draw the foul. The play sparked a 9-4 Clark run to close out the second half and go to the dressing room with the score 43-39 in favor of the visiting team.

At the start of the second half the Engineers again stretched their lead to nine on a free throw by Soumare, but he Cougars battled back to tie the game at 56-56 with 12:30 left in the game after Normandin hit one of his two three-point buckets of the night. Things got hairy less than a minute later when Alexander broke down the court with two MIT. players giving chase. It at first appeared that Alexander was fouled, but the referees made a controversial no-call in the close game. Coach Phillips argued on behalf of Alexander and was given a technical foul. The Engineers were able to sink one of the free shots bringing the score to 56-58 in favor of MIT.

Clark kept pace with MIT in the waning moments of the game. Big shots from Ochoa, Normandin, Alexander, and Lyell kept the score to 72-77 at the two minute mark, but the Engineers were able to convert 70% of the free throws in the second half to widen the gap. Clark players hit 75% percent of their turns at the foul line but had only about half the opportunities that the Engineers had.

A scary moment silenced the court and bleachers when MIT’s Bartolotta was undercut by and fell hard onto Clark’s Lopiano. Lopiano stayed down and was helped off the court by his team mates and the training staff with 54.8 seconds left in the half and the score at 82-75 for MIT.

Clark brought the score to 80-85 with 35.8 seconds left but could not make up the difference. The game ended with the final score 80-87 MIT.