WPI 67, Clark 57
Box
Score
Worcester, MA --- WPI had four players reach double figures and
held host Clark to 36 percent shooting en route to a 67-57 win over
the archrival Cougars before 1,213 fans at the Kneller Athletic
Center in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference men's
basketball on Tuesday evening.
The Engineers improved to 13-3 overall and 2-2 in NEWMAC action,
while Clark slips to 10-7 and 1-3 in league action and now has
dropped back-to-back games for the third time this season.
Despite shooting just 36 percent (9-for-25) in the first half,
Clark kept the game close and actually took a 16-15 on a layup by
Slader Lyell (Portsmouth, RI) with 6:45 left in
the opening stanza.
WPI then closed the half on a 12-4 run capped by a
Fernando Perez (Lowell, MA) layup at the buzzer to
give the Engineers a 27-20 lead going into intermission.
Clark then opened the second half on an 8-2 run, trimming the
WPI edge to 29-28 on a Chris LoPiano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) triple
with 18:32 remaining in the contest, but the Engineers then went on
a 22-7 spurt to take a 50-46 lead. During that stretch, the Cougars
went over four minutes without a basket and committed five of their
19 turnovers.
Clark regrouped and went on a 9-0 run that featured a triple
from Lyell, a three-point play from Jonathan Phillips (Shrewsbury,
Mass.) and a long three-pointer from Drew Billington (Fairfield,
Conn.), cutting the Engineer advantage to 50-45 with 8:05 left.
Over the next seven minutes however, WPI scored 17 of the game's
next 22 points - going 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the
process - and emerged from that run with a 67-50 lead that proved
too big for the Cougars to overcome.
The Engineers connected on 48 percent of the field goal attempts
(23-for-47), and made 17-of-21 foul shots, including a 16-for-19
performance in the second half.
Clark held a 37-28 edge on the glass, but struggled shooting,
making just 21 of their 58 shots, including a 4-for-19 showing from
behind the arc.
Jeffery Robinson (Granby, CT) posted a
game-high 17 points in 30 minutes of action, while Perez, scored 10
of his 12 points in the first half. Kyle Nadeau
(Webster, MA) added 11 points, going 3-for-6 from three-point land,
and Jerome Stewart (Bloomfield, CT) chipped in 10
points before fouling out. Backup point guard Jamie
Shannon (Lowell, MA) was solid, totaling nine points and a
team-best seven rebounds.
The Cougars were paced by Brian Vayda
(Sturbridge, MA), who had 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists,
two blocks and two steals. Mitch Renshaw (Rutland,
MA) was the only other Clark player in double figures with 10
points, six rebounds and three assists.
WPI returns to action on Saturday when they travel to
Springfield for a 1pm start, while Clark will look to return to the
win column on Saturday as well when they visit Babson for a 3pm
start.
Release Courtesy Clark Sports Information
