Box Score Worcester, MA --- The WPI defense held Clark without a point for nearly 12 minutes, including the opening 9:58 of the second half, as the Engineers went on the road Tuesday and defeated the host Cougars 63-42 in the 143rd meeting between the two Worcester city rivals.
WPI, ranked eighth in the most recent D3hoops.com, improves to 14-2 overall and 4-1 in league play. It marks the ninth straight win in the matchup for the Engineers, who lead the overall series 77-66. Clark falls to 7-9 on the season and 2-3 in NEWMAC action.
After David Mercier (Milford, MA) canned a jumper for the hosts with exactly two minutes left before intermission, the WPI defense took center stage. The Crimson and Gray held Clark scoreless on 18 straight possessions. The Cougars missed on 14 consecutive shots from the field and turned the ball over five times while the Engineers limited Clark to just one offensive rebound during the spurt that saw WPI score 15 straight points and transform a 29-27 halftime edge into a 44-27 lead just before the midway point of the second half.
In the first half, Clark forced turnovers on WPI's opening three possessions and connected on two of its first three trifecta attempts en route to opening a 6-0 advantage. WPI's defense stiffened and forced Clark to misfire on its last 10 shots of the half from downtown and junior sharpshooter Zach Karalis (North Andover, MA) came off the bench and buried all four of his shots, including three from 3-point range, to led all scorers with 11 first half points as the Engineers went to the break with a 29-27 advantage.
Karalis led all players with 18 points while reigning NEWMAC Player of the Week Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA) totaled 12 points and Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) added 11. Longwell moved past WPI Hall of Famer John Loonie and into a tie with Jeff Ayotte for 15th all-time on the scoring list with 1,228 points. Freshman forward Obi Obiora (Brookline, MA) registered seven points and shared game-high honors with 10 rebounds while point guard Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) set the tone defensively and handed out a game-high six assists without making a turnover.
Graduate student Nichols DaPrato (Marshfield, MA) paced Clark with 12 points. Andrew Musler (Belmont, MA) and Mercier both tallied nine points for the hosts with Musler corralling 10 rebounds and Mercier gobbling up seven boards. Joe Atkinson (Milford, MA) doled out a team-best four assists for the hosts.
Both teams continue NEWMAC play with home games on Saturday. WPI entertains Wheaton at 2pm while Clark entertains Springfield at 1pm.
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