WORCESTER -- Ian Converse (Woodstock, CT) erupted for a career-high 32 points as WPI knocked off visiting Coast Guard 84-70 in a NEWMAC men's basketball contest played on Wednesday evening. 

With the victory, WPI wins its fourth straight contest and pushes its record to 13-5 overall and 4-3 in conference action.  Coast Guard is now 5-12 on the season and 1-6 in NEWMAC play. 

Converse came off the bench and shot a blistering 13-of-17 from the floor, including connecting on both of his 3-point attempts and all four of his bids from the charity stripe.  His 32 points were the most from a WPI player in nearly five seasons and just three points short of Jeff Robinson's 35 in January of 2010, which is the most in the 16-year Chris Bartley coaching era. 

The game evolved into a scoring battle between Converse and Coast Guard sharpshooter Max Lampe (Gettysburg, PA).  The rookie Bear also reached a career-best with 29 points and equaled the school record for 3-pointers in a game with nine held by current CGA assistant Grant Johnson back in the 2007 NEWMAC Quarterfinals. On night Lampe canned 9 of his 13 trifecta tries.      

The first stanza held four major runs by both teams. Coast Guard began the scoring trend finding a 13-7 lead seven minutes in on a pair of shots from beyond the yard by Lampe and another 3-pointer from Micah Baldez (Lower Gywnedd, PA). After a slow start that saw the Engineers shooing 4-of-10 from the floor, the hosts battled back, going 7-8 and making a 21-5 point run.  Converse tallied 17 points before intermission en route to outscoring the Coast Guard bench single-handedly 17-3 over the opening 20 minutes. 

The Crimson and Grey never trailed over the following 20 minutes of play but saw their lead fall to within two possessions 7:37 into the half. The guests' surge was capped off by yet another three by Lampe. WPI stifled the run with a commanding pair of dunks by Chris Rodgers (Franklin, MA). 

Rodgers netted 13 of his points in the second half and capped a strong all-around game by sharing game-high rebounding honors with nine, dishing out four assists and swiping a pair of steals.  Sean Doncaster (Medford, MA) joined Converse and Rodgers in double figures in scoring with 11 points to go along with six assists and six boards while Connor Willgress (Mill Creek, WA) added seven caroms and six points, all on 3-poiners. 

Baldez was the only other Bear to reach double digits in points with 12 and chipped in with five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Justin Kane (Arnold, MD) came off the bench to contribute eight points and eight boards and Luke Daniels (Paintsville, KY) aided the effort with eight points, six boards and joining Lampe with three blocks on the night. 

The Engineers shot a strong 81.8% (18-of-22)from the free throw line and parlayed 17 CGA miscues into 25 points.  

WPI heads to the road for its next two NEWMAC contests.  The Engineers head to Springfield for a noon showdown on Saturday before venturing to Emerson for a 5:30 matchup next Wednesday.   Coast Guard concludes a two-game road trip Saturday at Wheaton at 1pm.  

Majority of recap written by WPI student assistant Ranier Gran '18

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