New London, CT --- Seniors Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) and Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA) each registered a double-double as the 13th ranked WPI men's basketball team went on the road Saturday and defeated NEWMAC foe Coast Guard 65-47 on Saturday afternoon.
Longwell tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the week, sixth of the season and eighth of his career while Mastascuca reached the milestone for the first time with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Zach Karalis (North Andover, MA) made three from beyond the arc on his way to 11 points and Shane Farley (Burlington, MA) and Chris Rodgers (Franklin, MA) combined for 14 points off the bench to help bring WPI's record to 19-4 on the season and 9-3 in NEWMAC competition.
Coast Guard was led by junior Kevin Alvarez who had 15 points and seven rebounds. Senior David Anderson chipped in eight points and eight boards dropping the Bear's record to 6-17 overall and 2-10 in the NEWMAC. The Bears cut the lead to three midway through the second half but were outscored by the Enginners 26-11 to end the game.
The Engineers ran out to 20-7 lead when Longwell nailed a deep three with 8:58 left in the first half. Coast Guard cut the advantage to seven when freshman Mark Elliot made one of two from the stripe bringing the score to 22-15 with just under five to go in the half. WPI however finished off the half with an 11-4 run taking a 33-19 lead going into the break.
The Bears came out strong in the second half going on a 17-6 run and cut the Engineer's lead to three at 39-36 with 13:50 left in the game. The run was fueled by Alvarez who had eight points and one steal. Coast Guard would go cold from that point on scoring only 11 more points compared to WPI's 26 as the Engineers closed out their 65-47 victory.
The Bears were 16-49 (32.7%) from the floor and shot 18.2% (2-11) from three. WPI shot 41.5% (22-53) and went 7-21 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. The Engineers scored 21 points off of 13 turnovers and held an advantage in the paint, outscoring Coast Guard 26-16 down low.
Coast Guard returns to action Wednesday, February 18th, as they travel to Babson to take on the Bears. Game will tip at 7pm. WPI plays its final regular season road game the same night, facing Wheaton at 6pm.
Release Courtesy Coast Guard Sports Information