WORCESTER -- Justin Molen (Newark, DE) exploded for a career-high 32 points and Nathan Bledsoe (San Antonio, TX) equaled his career-best with 22 to ignite the nationally-ranked WPI men's basketball team to a 94-77 victory over previously unbeaten UMass Dartmouth in a non-conference showdown on Tuesday evening in Harrington Auditorium.
 
The Engineers, ranked 19th in the preseason D3hoops.com, moves to 3-0 on the season while the Corsairs dip to 3-1 overall.
 
Neither Molen, whose previous career-high was 23 points set a week and a half ago in the season opener with Lasell, drained 11-of-21 shots from the field, stuffed the stat sheets with seven rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals, or Bledsoe, who also netted 22 points in last season's NCAA Tournament second round victory over Ithaca (NY), and canned five 3-pointers on Tuesday, committed a turnover on the night as the Crimson and Gray had just seven miscues for the game.  Bledsoe finished a board short of his first double-double with a career-best nine rebounds while Tim Reidy (Needham, MA) buried four trifectas and swiped three steals on his way to 18 points, J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) dodged foul trouble to score eight points and Nicholas Margetson (Baldwin, NY) chipped in with seven.
 
Cam Dunbury (Pocasset, MA) paced UMass Dartmouth with a season-best 18 points on 7-of-11 from the floor and also was a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards along with a pair of blocks.  Danny Reyes (Lawrence, MA) also reached double digits in scoring with 17 points to go along with four caroms while Mahdee McNair (Sicklerville, NJ) netted 13 points and six boards and Darius Peterson (Dorchester, MA) finished with 12.

WPI answered an early 6–2 deficit with a 10–0 run sparked by 3-pointers from Newman and Molen to take a 12–6 lead, and the hosts never trailed again. The Crimson and Gray later put together a 15–4 surge over a five-minute stretch midway through the first half to build a 36–21 advantage with 5:04 left before halftime. The Engineers' lead dipped into single digits only four times early in the second half, as the offensive trio of Molen (18), Bledsoe (11) and Reidy (10) combined for 39 of WPI's 49 second-half points.

WPI continues a busy week, heading to New Hampshire this weekend for the Keene State Invitational.  The Engineers will open play in the two-day tournament versus defending GNAC Tournament champion St. Joseph's (ME) on Friday at 5:30pm.