Westfield, MA --- Aaron Todd (York, ME) took home MVP honors as WPI captured the Rick Martin Holiday Inn Men's Basketball Tournament championship with a 59-50 victory over host Westfield State at the Woodward Center Saturday afternoon.
Todd narrowly missed his second straight double-double, tossing in a career-high 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the Engineers improve to 2-0 for the 13th consecutive season.
After jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the opening minutes, Westfield State (1-1) did not score for more than 11 minutes of game time before a free throw from senior center Brian Foley(Worcester, MA) broke the drought with 7:14 left in the first half.
In that time, WPI went on a 21-0 run, using a suffocating half-court defense to disrupt the Owls' offense and fuel its own transition scoring opportunities.
Westfield State was able to claw back into the game by halftime due to some tough defense of its own and the energetic play of Tchuijo Nkamebo (Amherst, MA), who had four points, four rebounds, a steal and a block in the first half. Nkamebo finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
The Owls cut the lead down to four before a put-back from Todd at the buzzer sent the Engineers into the break with a six-point lead, 25-19.
To open the second half, however, WPI once again clamped down on defense, holding Westfield State to one field goal in the first five minutes of the half.
Senior guard Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) applied intense full-court defensive pressure, forcing four consecutive Owls turnovers to help the Engineers gain a 17-point lead. WPI had nine steals on the game and forced 20 Westfield turnovers.
Once again, Westfield State fought back, cutting the Engineers lead to seven points on multiple occasions, but WPI always had an answer.
Junior center Shane Pasquantonio (Ashland, MA) led the Owls charge, posting up hard and earning multiple trips to the free throw line. Pasquantoni scored 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
The Owls came as close as six points with three minutes remaining, but Todd drained a fade away midrange jumper and sunk three free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Engineers' sophomore Chris Rodgers (Franklin, MA) led all scorers with a career-best 18 points. The 6-foot-2 guard consistently sliced his way into the paint and knocked down two three-pointers. Junior forward Ian Converse (Woodstock, MA) added 10 points and 5 rebounds off the bench while Clyde Niba (Atlanta, GA) chipped in with eight points and Sean Doncaster (Medfield, MA) doled out a trio of assists.
Westfield State returns to action on Wednesday, November 18 when they travel to Norwich for a 7pm. tip off. WPI takes on Curry in its home opener on Friday, November 20 in the Ted Coughlin Memorial Tournament at 5:30pm.
Release Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information