Babson Park, MA --- Senior Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA) scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds, and junior Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) added 13 points and three assists as 13th-ranked WPI defeated 15th-ranked Babson College, 67-57, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action at Staake Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
With the win, WPI is now 12-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while Babson, which had its 11-game winning streak snapped, drops to 12-2 and 2-1 in the NEWMAC.
Senior Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) added 12 points, five rebounds and two assists, while juniorZach Karalis (North Andover, MA) finished with 10 points. In addition, Longwell headlined a defensive effort that limited the conference's secong leading scorer to just four points and offensivlyeclipsed the 1,200 career point mark.
Senior Eric Dean (Manchester, NH) led all scorers with 18 points to lead the Beavers. SophomoreSam Bohmiller (Franklin, MA) finished with 15 points, two rebounds and two steals, while senior John Wickey (Manchester, NH) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior David Mack (Holden, MA) also scored eight points and dished out a team-high three assists.
WPI took a 10-7 edge on a layup by first-year Aaron Todd (York, ME) with 15:16 left in the opening half, but four quick points from Bohmiller gave the Green and White its final lead of the game at 11-10 with 14:00 minutes remaining. Karalis drilled a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and followed with a layup on the next trip to ignite a 13-2 run as the Engineers pushed their lead to double digits.
Sophomore Ian Converse (Woodstock, CT) converted a pair of second-chance opportunities, and Mastascusa added layups on consecutive possessions to put WPI in front 23-13 with 6:46 remaining in the period. The Beavers closed to within seven on three occasions, the last coming on a layup by sophomore Joey Flannery (Acton, MA) at the 2:56 mark, but Davis knocked down two late three-pointers to give the Engineers a 33-20 lead going to the locker room.
The Engineers shot 50 percent (14-of-28) in the opening 20 minutes, including a 5-of-10 effort from beyond the arc, and turned seven offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points. Babson shot just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) in the first half, and went just 1-of-9 from long distance.
WPI pushed its lead to as many as 15 early in the second half before the Green and White got trifectas from Dean and Bohmiller to key a 7-0 run, cutting its deficit to 45-40 with 10:05 to play. Davis answered with a driving layup and Mastascusa converted an old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession to push the Engineers lead to 50-40 with 9:24 to go in the game.
Wickey buried a trey and Mack made a layup two possessions later to again pull the Beavers within five at the 8:10 mark. WPI responded though, ripping off a 9-0 run that started with a Karalis three-pointer and was capped by a hoop from Mastascusa to make it 59-47 with 3:18 remaining.
Babson got within eight in the closing minutes, but the Engineers went 6-of-8 at the free throw line to close out the victory.
WPI shot 50 percent (26-of-52) on the night and outscored the Green and White 36-30 in the paint. The Engineers held a 33-27 edge on the glass and took advantage of 17 second-chance points.
The Beavers shot 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the floor, but were just 6-of-23 from beyond the arc.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Wheaton at 2pm, while WPI welcomes Emerson for a 1pm. tip-off.
Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information