The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NEW LONDON, CONN.--Senior Al Sowers had a game-high 18 points while junior Craig Johnson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as third-seeded and defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament champion Coast Guard held sixth-seeded MIT to a season-low 44 points in a 58-44 win in the first round of the NEWMAC tournament.

Coast Guard (19-6) advances to the semifinals and will take on seventh-seeded Wheaton at top-seeded WPI on Saturday at 3 p.m. The championship game will be at WPI on Sunday at noon. WPI will host fourth-seeded Babson in the first semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Bears jumped out to an 11-0 lead with 16 minutes left in the first half as Sowers hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first four minutes. The Engineers responded with 10 straight to make the score 11-10 with 10:48 left in the first half.

Coast Guard then scored nine straight, the first six on back-to-back 3-pointers by senior Grant Johnson as the Bears led 20-10 with 6:11 left in the half. Coast Guard also closed out the first half on a 9-2 spurt turning a 25-14 lead into a 34-16 halftime lead. MIT was held to just six first half field goals (6-21) and the Engineers were one of seven from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes while Coast Guard hit seven of 13 from 3-point range (53.8 percent) in the first half.

MIT (12-14) got as close as 12 on two separate occasions, the final one being 36-24 with 16:21 left, but Coast Guard led by as many as 22 at 58-36 with 3:44 left before MIT scored the final eight points of the game.

Junior Jimmy Bartolotta, the NEWMAC's leading scorer, was held to a season-low 12 points and no rebounds, his 12 points however was a team-high.

Grant Johnson added 12 points while Craig Johnson didn't miss a shot all night, going 3 for 3 from the field and 4 for 4 from the foul line to finish with his 10 points.

Defending Champion Coast Guard Advances to NEWMAC Semifinals Behind Sowers