WORCESTER -- Tim Reidy (Needham, MA) registered team-best 21 points and Jack Bleier (Victor, NY) established a new career-high with 17 as the nationally-ranked WPI men basketball team overcame a sluggish start and roared back to defeat visiting MIT 77-66 in a NEWMAC contest played inside Harrington Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.
 
WPI, 24th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, improves to 12-3 on the season and 5-1 in NEWMAC play.  The Crimson and Gray remain tied atop the conference standings as co-leader Salve Regina won 94-60 at home against Coast Guard.  Babson, which defeated Emerson 61-52, remains a game back at 4-2 but Clark was knocked off 68-66 at Wheaton and is now two games off the lead at 4-3.  MIT slips to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in league action.  
 
MIT jumped out to a 13-5 lead six minutes into the contest while the host Engineers struggled to find its footing offensively.  WPI registered just one basket on its first 15 possessions (1-for-9 shooting - four turnovers) but were down only eight as MIT went ice cold after starting the game 6-for-8 from the field, going scoreless for a 6:52 stretch in which they turned the ball over.  Meanwhile, after starting slow, the hosts hit five straight field goal attempts to spearhead a 16-0 run which began when Bleier grabbed an offensive rebound and delivered a nifty pass to a cutting Nathan Bledsoe (San Antonio, TX) for a layup.  The duo combined for 14 points off the bench as homestanding Engineers held a 32-28 edge at the break.
 
Reidy and J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) were the story of the second half for WPI.  With the game tied 34-34 early in the second half, Reidy hit three consecutive 3-pointers to kickstart an 11-0 spurt.   The hosts led by as many as 16 points, following a Bleier bucket with 13:42 to go, but MIT had whittled away the deficit to three at 63-60 with 6:03 remaining but back-to-back baskets by Newman, who amassed 14 of his 16 points after the intermission, helped the hosts hold off the visiting Engineers.
 
Reidy drained 5-of-8 3-pointers on his way to racking up 21 points.  Bleier finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, eclipsing his career-high of 15 points set last February in WPI's NEWMAC semifinal victory over Emerson.   Bledsoe was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line and totaled 13 points.   Justin Molen (Newark, DE) contributed team-highs of eight rebounds, all off the defensive glass, five assists and three blocks while Matt Morvillo (Bedford, MA) grabbed seven boards, doled out three assists and swiped three steals and Oliver Hibbard (East Lyme, NC) blocked a pair of shots.
 
As a team, the hosts shot 17-for-19 (89.5%) from the charity stripe and only turned the ball over nine times, holding a 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Wyatt Mowery (Winston-Salem, NC) was outstanding for MIT.  The junior center came off the bench notched 22 points, five blocks and five rebounds.  Isaac Dobie (Kitty Hawk, NC) chipped in with 14, six rebounds and three assists, Michael Zhan (Jacksonville, FL) tallied 10 points and Rome Delgado-Gonzalez (Miami, FL) contributed seven points and five assists.

WPI begins its second consecutive three-game week at home on Tuesday with a 7pm tipoff against Emerson inside Harrington Auditorium.  MIT returns at home Tuesday, squaring off with Babson at 6:30pm.