Spirit Night a Good Time, for All?

By Bill Cobb

On Wednesday night Clark hosted Spirit Night at the Kneller Athletic Center. The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams and the men’s basketball team faced off against cross-town conference rivals WPI. For the swim and dive team, the evening also marked Senior Night, where Shyamal Asher, Kara Bochicchio, Cassandra Crawford, Caitlin Hanson, Jessica Moise, and Marjorie Whalen were recognized for their dedication to the team.

The Cougar faithful packed the seats to cheer on the men’s basketball team as they matched up against the top seeded team in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference in WPI. Clark held the second seed in the battle for conference supremacy.

Spirit Night wasn’t just about the competition, though. The night held plenty of other events for the fans, including a raffle with five winners getting a chance to shoot a half-court shot to win a free car. Seniors Horia Kraus and Mika Sneddon, freshman Julie Murray, and sophomores Josh Dickstein and Alex Atkins all had their lucky numbers drawn to make the deep shot. None of the raffle winners made the basket, but they all got their 15 minutes of fame at center court.

Laurel Holden’s raffle ticket also proved lucky when she was selected “Fan of the Game,” earning her a seat on the comfortable leather couches set up in the corner of the court. Several other prizes were awarded throughout the night for those with fortunate numbers.

With all the activities available during the night, one thing was noticeably missing. While the swim and dive teams and men’s basketball team enjoyed a boisterous crowd on their home turf, the women’s basketball team was absent from the night’s festivities. Fans could only question why the event wasn’t held on a night when all three teams held home contests.

“It unfortunate that the women’s team didn’t get a chance to show what they can do in front of this huge crowd for Spirit Night,” said David Blum, a senior soccer player at Clark. “It’s unfair. Here at Clark we try and promote an equal opportunity for all teams to be seen.”

Emily Zoback, another senior, echoed Blum’s sentiments. “This is the first time I can remember Spirit Night without both the men’s and women’s teams,” she said. “I feel bad for the seniors who missed out on their last possible Spirit Night.”

Much of the consideration for selecting the date of Spirit Night involves the availability of a televised broadcast. But this event, a night for the fans and athletes alike, should not simply be about getting Clark on TV—this should be a night that all students and athletes should be able to enjoy together.

Clark Coasts Early, Hangs on Late to Beat Babson

By Max Bogaert

Wellesley Ma- The Clark University men’s basketball team exploded to a twenty point lead early in the second half then held off a furious Beaver rally for a 59-55 win at Staake Gymnasium. Clark’s active defense aided by a poor shooting performance from Babson, who shot only 38% in the first, allowed them to lead from tip-off to the half. The Cougars shot fifty percent from deep in the first half, hitting seven of fourteen from behind the arc of which Senior Pat Ochoa and Junior Byron Roberts each had two. Clark was playing without sophomore Chris LoPiano who was out with a broken leg. Coach Paul Phillips called LoPiano “a big part of the team and really, the only true point guard we have”. The Cougars made up for the loss by pushing the fast break and rapid substitution. Phillips also mentioned the efforts of graduate student Gunnar Hagstrom and Roberts as the guards who came off the bench, helping keep the energy up.

Controlling the boards and defensive hustle allowed Clark to push the lead to thirteen at the half. The Cougars forced six turnovers and out rebounded the Beavers, while also drawing three big charges. Early in the second half it was all Clark as they continued the 9-0 run to close the first half by ripping off another seven straight points, highlighted by an Ochoa three. Ochoa was huge on defense as well, holding Babson’s leading scorer Kyle McDonald to just ten points on 4-14 shooting. “He did an unbelievable job on him” said Phillips. Ochoa finished with nine points in thirty one minutes. With McDonald under wraps, Babson had to rely on another player to bring the Beavers all the way back. Junior Zach Etten was all over the court, grabbing three key rebounds after missed free throws. He finished with a team high fifteen points.

Babson went on a 10-0 run starting at the eight minute mark, holding the Cougars without a point for over five minutes. “I think when they went to that match up zone, we started to get a little tentative, then they started to score after they were just shooting terribly in the first half. We started to walk it up rather than really go at them” Said coach Phillips of the Babson come back. Overall, it was a 16-2 run that brought the Beavers back all the way with just under two minutes left. Babson also reversed the work on the boards, as they out rebounded the Cougars by nine in the second half, with senior Chris Bradley pulling down six of his eleven in the second half. It was Etten who truly dominated, shooting three of five from deep, including one to knot it up at fifty five with barely over a minute to go.

Mark Alexander hit two pressure free throws to put the Cougars up by two. Alexander struggled mightily from the field, shooting one for eleven on the day, but his work at the line ended up being the difference. With thirty-eight seconds to go, Etten went from hero to goat when he dragged his pivot foot on a jump stop in the lane for the travel and turned the ball back over to Clark. Landers hit one of two from the line and Babson missed two desperation three pointers to give Clark the four point win.

Landers and Junior Pete Normandin held down the low post throughout the game, until Normandin fouled out with nine minutes left. “Pat (Landers) and Pete Normandin did a great job for us today, even though they had about nine fouls between them” Philips said with a laugh. Babson falls to 6-12 overall with a 3-4 record in the New England Women and Men’s Athletic Conference. The Beavers will host Bowdoin College on February 6^th for a non-conference game before heading to Wheaton College on Saturday February 9th The Cougars currently stand at 10-9 overall, with a 5-2 record in conference. The Cougars, who sit alone in second place, host league leaders WPI on Wednesday. Should Clark win they’ll be tied for first place. The Engineers easily won the first contest, 93-74. Saturday the Cougars will gain play host, this time to Springfield College. Clark squeaked by the Pride in their first meeting, 66-64.

Clark Spirit Night!

Come to the Kneller Athletic Center Wednesday, February 6 for Clark Spirit Night. The men's basketball team faces off against WPI at 7 PM, aired live on Channel 3, while the swim and dive teams compete against WPI at 6:30 PM. Enjoy free popcorn and great music, and enter the raffle for great prizes! Bring your Clark ID for a free raffle ticket, and wear a red shirt for a second ticket! Raffle winners get a chance to take a half-court shot for a free car!

Alexander and Co. Overcome 18-point 2nd Half Deficit in 83-80 Victory

By Jim Callahan

WORCESTER, MASS - In a game where both teams held double-digit leads, the timely shooting and defense of Clark’s Mark Alexander was the difference. The sophomore from Providence, Rhode Island led all scorers with a career-high 30 points, also grabbing eight rebounds and six steals.

Alexander, although the team leader in points and minutes-played, quickly pointed to his teammates as the main reason for the victory, “Down 18, we knew we had to battle back, and everyone kept fighting.” More specifically, he pointed to the leadership that he had followed as an underclassmen, “One of our senior leaders, [Pat] Ochoa hit two big free throws at the end of the game.” Ochoa’s free throws were the last points scored for either team in an 83-80 nail-biter.

Joining Alexander in double figures for the Cougars were Junior Pete Normandin (Westminster, MA) with 15 points on 7-10 shooting, and Sophomore Slayder Lyell (Portsmouth, RI) who added 10 points off the bench, including a lay-up with 1:48 remaining in the contest that gave the Cougars their first lead since they led 36-34 one minute into the second half. Lyell’s go-ahead basket, along with an Alexander lay-up just moments before were assisted by Sophomore guard Chris Lopiano who contributed with an efficient 7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio off the bench for Clark.

Among Becker’s leading scorers were Junior Travis Suber (Springfield, MA) who had 17 points and five assists, and Freshman Kevin Miranda (Brockton, MA), a reserve who scored all of his 17 points in the second half, including 5-8 shooting from three-point range. Junior guard Shawn Fuller (New Haven, CT) had a 12 point, seven rebound performance on 5-19 shooting from the field. Senior big man Emmanuel Masumbuko had an impressive night in the paint picking up nine points and 10 rebounds, five of which were on the offensive end.

A troubled start for the Cougars seemed apparent when Normandin was taken out of the game with two personal fouls, only 1 minute and 26 seconds into the game, but three 3-pointers by Senior captain D.J. Brinn and three first-half steals by Alexander helped Clark build a lead that at one point reached double-digits. A strong finish in the paint by Normandin (5:22 remaining in the half) gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 11 (29-18).

Becker was able to shrink Clark’s lead to five points by the end of the half due to strong first-half performances by Fuller (10 first-half points) and Freshman Darren Callahan (eight points, three steals at the half), despite shooting only 35.3% shooting from the field and managing only three second chance points on seven offensive rebounds.

The second half began with a 36-13 run by Becker over a span of 11 minutes, which gave them their largest lead of the game at 18 points. During this time, Miranda hit four of his five successful three-point attempts, clearly providing a spark to the Hawks’ offense. Reserve Freshman Steve Jacobs (nine points on 3-7 FGs) scored 6 consecutive points to close out the run and give the Hawks a 67-49 lead.

With less than nine minutes remaining, Normandin, although limited because of foul trouble, contributed with a huge defensive rebound on one end and the completion of a 3-point play immediately following. Yet another Normandin rebound only a minute later led to a quick outlet pass and a fast break lay-up by Sophomore Jack Minister. Alexander added two more steals that led to both a Normandin jumper and a coast-to-coast Alexander dunk that revived the crowd at the Kneller Athletic Center. Down seven, Alexander added a pair of offensive rebounds that led to four second-chance points for the sophomore, then two 3-point shots closely guarded, shrinking the deficit to one point (73-72).

With just two minutes left, Lopiano’s aforementioned passing gave Clark a lead that they would not let go of, capping off a 34-13 run to close-out the game and defeat the Hawks.

Clark’s next game will be at Worcester State on November 29^th (7 PM) and they return home to square off with Anna Maria College at home on December 1^st (1 PM).