Clark 68, WPI 56
Box
Score
Worcester, MA --- Junior
Jack Minister (Manchester, England) and freshman
Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, MA) had career-highs of
27 points and 15 rebounds, respectively, to lead Clark University
to a 68-56 victory over nationally ranked WPI in New England
Women's and Men's Athletic Conference men's basketball action at
the Kneller Athletic Center on Tuesday
night.
The Cougars, who snapped their five-game losing skid, picked a
perfect time to come out of their mid-season slump. They improved
to 10-10 overall and 4-4 in league play. Ranked 22nd in the
latest D3hoops.com national poll, WPI (16-4, 7-1 NEWMAC) saw its
eight-game win streak come to an end and suffered its first NEWMAC
loss of the
season.
Clark was on fire in the opening minutes of the game, which was
broadcasted locally on Charter TV3, racing out to a 13-point lead
(19-6) on eight points and four boards from Vayda at
15:27.
WPI had no answer for the Cougars, as the hosts extended their
advantage to as many as 16 on four occasions with the last (40-24)
coming on Vayda's jumper with 3:35
remaining.
The Engineers scored seven of the final eight points of the half
to close within 41-31.
Vayda and Minister combined for 27 of Clark's 31 first half
points.
The two teams traded buckets in the first 2:26 of the second
half, until WPI used a 7-2 run capped by Ben
Etten's (Hollis, NH) trey to cut the deficit to six
(42-48) at 13:26. The next 9:01 of the game was a back and
forth affair, as each team made small runs during the span.
Kyle Nadeu's (Webster, MA) three-point basket at
the top of the key made it, 59-54, with 4:09 left to play, but the
Engineers never got closer the rest of the
way.
Minister, who drained four three-pointers, connected on 10-of-18
shots from the floor en route to his career-high 27 points.
Vayda was 8-of-11 from the field with 21 points, including some key
buckets down the stretch, and grabbed 10 of his 15 rebounds on the
defensive
end.
Freshman Fernando Perez (Lowell, MA) led WPI
with 13 points and nine boards. He was the only Engineer to
score in double figures as the team finished with a 34.4 percent
shooting
clip.
Clark shot 50 percent in the first half and 43.1 percent for the
game.
With the victory, Clark evens up the series record at 12-12
since joining the NEWMAC in 1998. WPI defeated Clark, 91-82,
earlier this season.
Clark will travel to Springfield College for a 3 p.m. NEWMAC
tilt. WPI is off until next Wednesday, when they play at
Springfield at 7:30 p.m.
Release Courtesy Clark Sports
Information
