WPI 75, Clark 73
Box
Score
Worcester, MA --- Kyle Nadeau's (Webster, MA)
eight-foot leaner with 1.5 seconds remaining gave host WPI a
dramatic 75-73 victory over cross-town rival Clark Saturday
afternoon in the regular season finale for both squads.
After Clark's Mark Alexander (Providence, RI)
hit a driving lay-up to put the Cougars up 73-71 with 1:14
remaining, WPI evened the game on a Jeffrey
Robinson (Granby, CT) jumper with 55.6 seconds left.
After Nadeau forced a five-second call on the defensive end, WPI
received possession after a jump ball following a missed shot with
10.5 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Nadeau provided
the heroics when his eight-footer kissed off the glass, rolled
around the rim and dropped for the game-winning points. After
a pair of timeouts, Clark's desperation heave fell well
short.
With the win, WPI (18-6 overall, 7-5 NEWMAC) earns the third seed
in next week's NEWMAC Tournament and will host sixth-seeded Coast
Guard in a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 5:30pm. Clark (13-12,
4-8) is the fifth seed and will travel to fourth-seeded Wheaton on
Wednesday at a time to be announced.
Trailing by double-digits at 60-49 midway through the second
half, WPI embarked on a 14-2 run over a 6:34 span to seize a 63-62
advantage with just six minutes left. During the spurt, the
hosts held the Cougars without a field goal.
Robinson paced WPI with 20 points while Jerome
Stewart (Bloomfield, CT) equaled his career-high with
18. Junior Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) added 11
points while Nadeau tossed in nine points and dished out four
assists. Lone senior Bennett Lessard
(Belgrade, ME) hauled in a game-best seven boards in a game that
featured only 52 rebounds amongst both teams.
Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, MA) led all players
with a career-best 30 points for Clark. The sophomore canned
an eye-popping 13-of-17 shots from floor. Jack
Minster (Manchester, England) scored 12 of his 18 points
in the second half, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Mark Alexander (Providence, RI) finished with 11
points and eight
assists.
The first half saw both teams shoot the ball at a blistering
rate. WPI connected on 70% of its shots from the field but
trailed 38-36 at the intermission as the Cougars drained 68.2% of
its attempts including 8-of-9 from Vayda, who finished the opening
stanza with 18 points
