Worcester, MA --- Marco Coppola (Watertown, MA) and Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT) combined for 43 points and the WPI defense withstood two attempts by Springfield to tie in the final seconds as the Engineers knocked off the Pride 69-66 in a battle of two unbeaten teams in the NEWMAC men's basketball play on Wednesday evening.

The Engineers, ranked sixth in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, are now 19-0 overall and improve to 6-0 in conference action while the visitors slip to 14-5 on the season and 5-1 in NEWMAC play.

Springfield held WPI without a field goal for the final 6:28, outscoring the hosts 10-2 during that stretch with nine points coming from returning NEWMAC Player of the Year Alex Berthiaume (Springfield, MA).  The Crimson and Gray however went ahead by six, 69-63 on a pair of free throws by Kolb with 1:31 left.  Berthiaume cut the deficit in half on SC's next trip down the floor and then both teams traded turnovers before WPI missed a jumper with 12 seconds left.  After a pair of timeouts, Springfield had two shots to tie in the last six seconds but misfired on both attempts and the Engineers escaped with the outright lead in the conference.

After a first half that saw seven lead changes and four ties, WPI gained separation by hitting six of its first eight 3-pointers en route to a 23-17 lead with 9:15 to play before the half.  The Engineers extended the advantage to 11 in the final minute, but a Sean Martin (Rindge, NH) trifecta right before the final buzzer cut the Crimson and Gray edge to eight at 37-29.