Box Score Boston, MA --- Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA) forced overtime with a free throw and a blocked shot in the waning seconds of regulation and WPI scored 11 of the first 13 points in overtime as the Engineers defeated upset-minded Emerson 81-73 in a NEWMAC men's basketball contest played Wednesday.
WPI, which led 67-60 but did not hit a basket in the final 5:32 of regulation, trailed 69-67 in the final minute. The Engineers sliced the defect in half when Sean Doncaster (Medford, MA) drained one of two free throws with 52 seconds remaining. After an Emerson miss, WPI had a chance to take the lead and missed but Mastascusa swooped in, grabbed the rebound and was fouled. The senior made the first freebie and missed thee second and swatted an Emerson game-winning 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.
In overtime Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) netted four straight points followed by a Zach Karalis (Andover, MA) 3-pointer that put the game out of reach with just over a minute remaining in the extra session. Freshmen center Obi Obiora (Brookline, MA) was a force defensively in overtime with a block and three rebounds in the final five minutes.
Longwell and Mastascusa both amassed 21 points in the game with Longwell notching his fourth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. The senior moved passed Antoine Coleman and Jeff Cayer and is now 10th on the WPI all-time scoring list with 1,309 points. Point guard Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) contributed nine points and six rebounds and Chris Rodgers (Franklin, MA) provided a spark off the bench with six points.
Ryan Clinesmith (New York, NY) led Emerson with 19 points while Mike Carbone (North Reading, MA) and Brian Hurley (South Boston, MA) collected 12 and 10 respectively for the Lions. As a team, the hosts connected on 8 of its first 12 attempts from downtown. WPI, which entered the game third out of over 400 Division III teams in 3-point percentage defense (26.3%), stiffened late, allowing Emerson to only hit one of their final 10 tries from behind the arc.
Emerson used a 13-0 run to close the first half to take a 40-34 lead into the locker room intermission. Trailing 34-27 following an Aaron Todd (York, ME) layup, the Lions connecting their final five shots, including a trifecta of 3-pointers, while the Engineers WPI misfired on its final five shots of the stanza. WPI quickly evened the game in the opening minute of the second half on a pair of 3-pointers by Doncaster, who along with Karalis, played limited first half minutes due to foul trouble.
WPI, 10th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, is now 17-3 overall and 7-2 in NEWMAC play. Emerson falls to 9-10 on the season and 3-5 in conference contests
WPI returns home to begin a two-game homestand Saturday. The Engineers face No. 11 Babson in a battle of nationally-ranked squads at 3pm in a Coaches vs. Cancer contest. Emerson will be in Worcester as well at the same time on Saturday, playing at Clark.
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