WPI 91, Clark 82
Box
Score
Worcester, MA --- Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) tossed
in a career-high 26 points to help propel WPI to a hard-fought
91-82 victory over visiting Clark in a battle of teams with
undefeated NEWMAC records on Saturday afternoon. With the
win, WPI improves to 12-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play while
Clark falls to 9-6 on the season and 3-1 in NEWMAC action.
After taking a 31-25 advantage into the locker room at the
break, the Engineers shot a sizzling 70.8% from the floor in the
second half en route to registering an eye-popping 60 points in the
stanza. Although WPI never trailed in the contest, Clark
refused to go away. After the Crimson and Gray scored 20 of
29 points to open the second half, the Cougars whittled away at the
lead and closed to within seven points in the final minutes.
However, Etten and Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA)
helped repel the Clark rally by combining to can four free throws
in the final 20 seconds to secure the win.
Five different WPI players reached double figures in
scoring. Joining Etten and Kirkland (19 points) was
Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT) with 12 points and
Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) and NT
Izuchi (Boston, MA), with 11 each. Kirkland had a
strong all-around game, adding game-bests of five assists, seven
steals and two blocks.
Freshman Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, MA) led Clark
with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor.
Mark Alexander (Providence, RI) chipped in with
22, including an impressive 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, while
Peter Normandin (Westminster, MA) added 19 points
and gobbled up a game-high nine boards.
WPI now joins MIT atop the NEWMAC standings at 3-0. The
Cambridge Engineers play tonight at 8:30pm at Springfield in a rare
Saturday evening affair.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday at 7pm with NEWMAC home
contests. WPI entertains Babson while Clark hosts
Wheaton.
Story written by Ray Cotrufo - WPI
Athletics Department
