Box Score WORCESTER – Senior Clyde Niba (Atlanta, GA) scored 30 points and junior Ian Converse (Woodstock, CT) poured in a career-high 19 points to propel nationally-ranked WPI past Tufts, 85-70, Tuesday night in a non-conference men's basketball matchup at Harrington Auditorium.
The Engineers, ranked 13th in the first regular season D3hoops.com Top 25 of the season, improves to 6-0 while the Jumbos slip to 3-2 on the season.
WPI, who never trailed in the contest, jumped out to an 8-0 lead and forced a Jumbo timeout less than two minutes in. Converse increased the lead to 10 before Tufts junior Tarik Smith (Bronx, NY) canned a pair of free throws moments later to begin a 7-0 run. After senior Stephen Haladyna (South Hamilton, MA) hit a layup with 16:17 on the scoreboard, WPI began to pull away once again behind a jumper by freshman James Loring (Norton, MA) and a layup by sophomore Aaron Todd (York, ME). Sophomore Vincent Pace (Bridgewater, MA) later capped a 7-0 run, and cut the visitors deficit to one, with a layup 8:54 before the break. Niba then scored 10 of the Engineers next 12 points to give the hosts a nine-point advantage with just over five minutes to play in the frame. Todd's jumper one minute later sent the Engineers lead into double digits. The Engineers ended the half with a 16-point cushion at 44-28.
After the intermission, Pace drained a pair of threes to go with a jumper at 17:18 to bring the game within eight. On the Jumbos next trip down the court, Pace hit another triple to make it a 47-42 ballgame. Senior Ryan Spadaford (Rockville Centre, NY), who also had a bucket in the early second-half run, then potted a pair of freebies as Tufts pulled within three. Loring and Doncaster teamed up to score back-to-back layups for the 51-44 advantage with 14:36 to play.
Midway through the half, sophomore Stefan Duvivier (Fort Lauderdale, FL) converted a traditional three-point play and junior Drew Madsen (San Diego, CA) pitched in with a layup to make it a one-point contest. The Engineers pushed the lead back out to eight following a layup by senior Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) with 7:33 to play. WPI opened the margin to 15 with 3:49 remaining; however, Tufts whittled the deficit back into single digits following a Smith three at 2:03. On the front end of a pair of made free throws, Smith again got the Jumbos under 10 with 1:28 displayed on the scoreboard. Niba went 6-for-6 at the line while Davis hit a free throw and a layup for the 85-68 bulge. Pace deposited two free throws down the stretch for the 85-70 final.
Niba was 10-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-4 from downtown, and 8-for-11 at the charity stripe while totaling six rebounds for the Engineers. Converse, who led the Crimson and Gray with eight boards, was 8-for-14 in the field - all twos - and 3-for-4 at the line. Junior Sean Doncaster (Medford, MA) chipped in with 14 points, four caroms and a team-best six assists while Davis finished with eight points, three rebounds, four assists and a pair of swipes.
Pace guided the Jumbos with 20 points as Spadaford added 14 and sophomore Ben Engvall (Barrington, RI) tallied a dozen. Junior Tom Palleschi (Haverhill, MA) delivered eight boards followed by Haladyna and Pace with four apiece. Smith shared game-high honors with six helpers.
WPI welcomes Framingham State for the penultimate contest of a six-game homestand Thursday at 7pm. Tufts heads to Salem State for the second game of the New England Big 4 Challenge Saturday at 3pm.
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