Jan 06, 2015
BOSTON -- Wentworth Institute of Technology saw its 13-point lead reduced down to just two in the closing minutes, but held on the defeat the University of New England, 51-45, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Tuesday night (Jan. 6) at Tansey Gymnasium.
Winners in six of their last seven, the Leopards (6-5) stay tied atop the league standings at 4-0. The Nor'easters drop back to 2-8 on the year (0-3 CCC).
John-Michael Fragnoli paced the home side with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Cesar Fulcar notched nine points to go with eight assists, and Ray Bessette also contributed nine points.
For Big Blue, junior Devin Thompson scored a game-best 20 points, including 15 in the 2nd half, and sophomore CJ Autryadded seven points along with five rebounds and four assists.
WIT had a 36-23 cushion with 14:48 left to play before the Nor'easters put together a 15-4 stretch over a seven-minute span, slicing the deficit to 40-38.
The gap was still a couple (44-42) inside three minutes remaining until a triple from Bessette at the 1:55 mark provided some breathing room for the Leopards.
In the 1st half, a 6-0 start for Wentworth was countered by a 12-4 spurt from UNE, for what would be the lone advantage of the contest (12-10) for the visitors. The Leopards then broke out of a 15-15 deadlock to close the period with 11 of the final 13 points and gain a 26-17 lead at the break.
Wentworth heads to Eastern Nazarene College for its next match on Thursday, while the Nor'easters host Salve Regina University the same evening (7:30 p.m.).