WORCESTER – Sean Doncaster (Medford, MA) and Clyde Niba (Atlanta, GA) each rattled off 14 first half points as WPI shot over 70% as a team in the opening 20 minutes of an 88-60 triumph over host Clark in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon.
WPI, who is fifth in latest NCAA Division III New England regional rankings and receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, move to 20-5 on the season and 10-4 in conference action. It marks the 13th straight season the Engineers have won 20 or more games, the second longest active streak in NCAA Division III (over 400 schools) behind Wooster (OH) which has had 18 straight 20+ win seasons. The Fighting Scots entered this evening's regular season finale versus Oberlin with 18 wins this season with the NCAC Tournament on the schedule for next week.
The Crimson and Gray earn a spot in next Saturday afternoon's NEWMAC Tournament semifinals where they will face MIT at Babson at a time to be announced later this afternoon. The Cougars, who before the game honored seniors Corey Gomes (Uxbridge, MA), Tyler Huffman (West Hartford, CT) and Luke LaLima (Colts Neck, NJ) completed their season with 6-19 overall record and a 3-11 mark in NEWMAC play.
Niba and Doncaster combined for all eight points as WPI jumped out to a 8-0 advantage in a game where they never trailed. The Engineers scored 15 of the game's first 17 points and forced the Cougars to misfire on their first eight field goal attempts while harassing the hosts into three turnovers in the opening 6:12 before Lamar Berk (Saint Augustine, FL) canned a 3-pointer to make the score 15-5.
The guests never saw its advantage slip to single digits after that as Doncaster and Niba combined for seven points over the three minutes to put the game out of reach. Over the opening 20 minutes, the Engineers drained a jaw-dropping 19-of-27 (70.4%) shots from floor while holding Clark to just 26.9% (7-of-26) en route to a 48-27 edge at intermission.
Doncaster finished with career-equaling highs of 20 points and four 3-pointers to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Niba, who attempted just one shot in the second half, sank 6-of-8 shots from the field while scoring 14 points, grabbing six rebounds and doling out three assists. Aaron Todd (York, ME) and Jamani Spencer (Closter, NJ) both reached double figures in scoring with 12 and 11 points respectively while James Loring (Norton, MA) totaled nine points and seven boards. Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) led all players with five assists and Ian Converse gobbled up a game-best eight boards.
Berk paced the Cougars offensively with 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. The junior also corralled six boards on the day. Luca McCormick (Bradenton, FL) netted 12 and John Pisacreta (Andover, MA) chipped in with nine points. Joe Atkinson (Milford, MA) was strong on the boards for Clark, sharing team-high honors with six caroms while matching Pisacrata and LaLima with three assists.