SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – January 31, 2007 – Jeff Prebeck scored 21 points and added a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Coast Guard Academy to a 77-67 victory over Springfield College in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference men’s basketball game tonight at SC’s Blake Arena.

With the win, Coast Guard is now 11-9 overall, and 2-6 in NEWMAC play. Springfield, which had won four of its last five games, fell to 10-11 overall, and 5-3 in the conference. On January 13, just 18 days ago, Springfield had beaten Coast Guard in New London, 67-60.

Prebeck, a 6-6 junior forward from Columbus, Ind., is the nation’s leading rebounder. He was averaging 12.9 boards per contest entering the night, and did nothing to hurt that average by pulling down 14 rebounds. Prebeck had registered 16 points and 10 rebounds in the first half when the Bears began to take control.

Coast Guard had three others score in double figures. They included junior guard Grant Johnson (Grayson, Ga.) with 17 points, junior guard Al Sowers (Monrovia, Md.) with 16, and freshman guard Eric Hudson (Altadena, Calif.) with 10. Hudson was 5-for-6 from the floor. Sowers was also 4-for-8 from three-point range.

For Springfield, double-figure scorers included junior guard Jamaal Gibbs (Norwalk, Conn.) and freshman Ryan Blackmon (Stamford, Conn.) with 15 points each, and junior forward Gregg Daly (Farmington, Conn.) with 10. Daly led the Pride with seven rebounds. Freshman forward Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) added nine points and six rebounds. Gibbs top SC with four assists.

There were eight lead changes and three ties in the first half. Little did anyone realize when Sowers made a three-pointer with 2:11 to go in the half, Coast Guard was taking the lead for good. The Bears led 33-30 at that point, and would take a four-point lead into the half (36-32).

The Bears scored the first four points to open the second stanza to lead by eight, which in this game was a huge edge. With 13:55 to go, when Sowers made another three, the Bears led by 11 (50-39).

With 4:19 left, Gibbs made a lay-up to cut it to six (61-55). Coast Guard then scored the next nine points to open up its largest lead of the game, 70-55, with 2:20 to go. A three-pointer by Grant Johnson capped that spree. SC managed to close it to eight points (75-67) with 26 seconds to go on a three-pointer by senior guard Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, N.Y.), but that was as close as the Pride would come.

Springfield now has a week off. It will next play on Wednesday (Feb. 7) versus MIT at home at 7:00 p.m. Coast Guard plays at MIT this Saturday (Feb. 3) at 1:00 p.m.

published: 01/31/2007