Worcester, MA --- Sophomore point guard Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) slipped and nearly turned it over in the final minute of a Saturday afternoon nail-biter versus Springfield, but he sprung back up, got the ball back and went glass on a reverse layup for the winning basket with 53.3 seconds remaining.

The host Engineers (18-1, 8-0 NEWMAC) led all of 3:37 the entire game, but rallied back from as far down as 10 for a 71-70 win at Harrington Auditorium.

WPI, ranked #4 in the country by D3hoops.com, won its 15th straight game - its second longest streak in school history.  The victory was also the 26th straight in Harrington Auditorium and was the 250th career triumph for head coach Chris Bartley.  Also, coupled with Clark's upset over MIT, the Boynton Hillers now hold a three-game lead atop the NEWMAC over Springfield, MIT and Babson with just six conference games remaining.

WPI got a 3-point play by Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) and then a 3-pointer from Zach Karalis (North Andover, MA) to combat a 5-point deficit with 3:36 left. Karalis' trey made it 69-68 WPI with 2:20 to go, before a layup by Robbie Burke (Cheshire, MA) put the Pride (14-5, 5-3 NEWMAC) back in front on the next possession.

Burke was a force for Springfield, leading them in points (17) and all players in rebounds (13). He scored 15 in the second half, including seven free throws.

WPI junior Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA) led all scorers with 19 points, while Longwell followed with a double-double, totaling 13 points and 10 rebounds. Davis was the hosts' third double-digit scorer with 12 points.

Springfield's Alex Garstka (Westfield, MA) scored five early points en route to 11 for the game and put the visitors up, 20-10, with 8:34 left in the first half.

The Engineers made a strong push into halftime, though, outscoring the Pride, 19-9, over the rest of half, including all 10 of Mastascusa's first half points.

The junior capped an 11-0 WPI run to make it 27-22 in favor of the hosts with 2:08 left in the first half. Longwell, Davis, senior Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT), and freshman Marcus Middleton (Stoughton, MA) also contributed to the rally.

Springfield junior Simon Kilday (Arlington, VA) had 10 points overall and tied it at 29-29 at halftime, sinking a jumper 23 seconds before the intermission.

WPI was within two, 40-38, just over four minutes into the second half, but Springfield strung together a seven-point spurt led by Sean Martin (Rindge, NH), who converted a traditional 3-point play to open up a nine-point lead 1:50 later.

Martin played a game-high 37 minutes and contributed nine points, five assists and four boards. Nick Sienkiewicz (Cranston, RI) and Nick Swenson (Millbury, MA) chipped in eight points apiece, while Swenson also had nine rebounds.

The hosts picked away at the lead over the next eight minutes and tied it at 61-61 with 6:09 remaining after back-to-back 3s from Karalis and Mastascusa.

Karalis scored all eight of his points in the second half, and stuffed the stat sheets with eight rebounds, three assists, two 3-pointers and a block. Kolb added nine points for the Engineers, despite a poor shooting night for the forward.

WPI is back in action at 5:30pm Wednesday back at home against Emerson in the first game of a basketball doubleheader.  Springfield will resume its schedule at home against MIT at 7pm Wednesday. 

Release by Carl Setterlund - WPI Athletics Intern - Emerson '14

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