WORCESTER – Freshman Logan O'Donnell (Fishkill, NY) tied his previous career-high of 11 points in his first career start as the WPI men's basketball team snapped a four-game skid with a 70-46 win over visiting Wheaton in a NEWMAC matchup Wednesday night in Harrington Auditorium.
The Engineers improve to 10-4 overall and pick up their first conference win (1-2) of the season while Wheaton dips to 10-3 and 1-2.
Sophomore Reid Walker (Lithia, FL) paced both teams with 15 points on 6-7 shooting from the field and a pair of free throws. Junior Jake Wisniewski (West Brookfield, MA) totaled eight points, six rebounds and four assists as O'Donnell and sophomores Kahleb Downing (Middletown, CT) and Ethan Harrell (Wexford, PA) each hauled in five caroms. Downing also chipped in with four assists and four steals.
Wheaton was paced by junior Robby Lowey (Foxboro, MA) with 10 points, followed by freshman Jordan Wiggins (East Longmeadow, MA) with nine. Senior David Carbonello (Windham, NH) recorded five rebounds, two assists and two steals while classmate senior Riley Tetreault (Walpole, MA) added five more boards for Wheaton. In a statistical oddity, the Lyons made more free throws (17) than field goals (13).
Walker was perfect in the first half, notching eight of his points on 3-3 shooting from the field, including 1-1 from downtown, and a free throw. The Engineers went up by six early thanks to Walker's only triple of the game to go with another by sophomore Jake Needleman (Morganville, NJ). Following a 3-pointer by senior Duaka Ekwensi (Morris Plains, NJ) with just under 12 minutes left in the half, Wheaton went just over seven minutes without a field goal. The drought also saw the Engineers go over three minutes without a bucket. Harrell later bookended a 10-0 run to re-start the offense for a 25-7 cushion with 5:36 remaining until the break.
The Lyons fared better in the second half as they nearly doubled their shooting percentage (17.4 to 33.3). WPI clicked for 44.3 for the game, including 46.4 in the opening frame.
In addition to a 2pm NEWMAC matchup with Coast Guard, WPI will be honoring all the Engineer squads that have made an NCAA appearance. Wheaton travels to nationally-ranked MIT, also Saturday at 2pm.