Babson Park, MA --- Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT) paced four WPI players in double figures with a game-best 17 points to lift the visiting Engineers to a 66-43 NEWMAC road win at Babson on Wednesday evening.
WPI, ranked fourth in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, is now 20-0 on the season and have reached the 20-win mark for the 10th straight year - the second longest current streak in Division III behind Wooster (OH) (16). The Crimson and Gray also became the first team among all three NCAA divisions (1,038 teams) to reach 20 victories in 2012-13 only to be joined moments later by Michigan of the Big 10.
Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) connected on all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half as the freshman led all players with 11 points before intermission. The Engineers received seven points from Sam Longwell (Action, MA) to highlight a 10-2 spurt that increased it advantage from 3 to 11 points late in the half and the visitors enjoyed the same 11-point margin (30-19) at the half.
WPI shot 57.7% from the floor in the second half and never saw its lead slip into single digits over the final 20 minutes.
Kolb drained 7-of-10 shots from the field while Davis and Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) each added 11. Marco Coppola (Watertown, MA) dodged first half foul trouble to tally all 10 of his points in the second stanza. The Engineers connected on 50% (10-20) of its 3-pointers and only commited nine turnovers on the night.
The Beavers struggled to find open looks all night, hitting just 14-of-45 from the field, including a 3-of-18 clip from three-point range. Junior Kenny Ross (Furlong, Pa.) led the Green and White with a gutsy performance at the point guard spot, scoring 10 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Ryan Stowe (Shrewsbury, MA) also netted 10 points while accounting for two of the team's three trifectas, and sophomore John Wickey(Manchester, NH) added nine points and four boards.
WPI returns home Saturday to begin its final home stand of regular season. The Engineers host Coast Guard at 1pm. Babson is also home Saturday, entertaining Clark at 3pm.
Major portion of release courtesy Babson Athletics