New London, CT --- Andrew Lufkin (Auburn, NH) erupted for a season-high 17 points and John Adams (Douglas, MA) recorded his fifth double-double of the season to help propel visiting WPI to a 73-54 victory over Coast Guard in a NEWMAC men's basketball matchup on Wednesday afternoon.
The Engineers, who are receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, ups their record to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Coast Guard dips to 8-3 on the season and 1-1 in NEWMAC action.
The host Bears opened the game with a quick basket following the opening tip but then the WPI defense then forced CGA to misfire on its next 10 shots and commit four turnovers over the next 8:29 as the Crimson and Gray ripped off a 21-2 to claim control of the contest. Lufkin accounted for eight of the points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, CA) contributed six points during the spurt in which the Engineers connected on 9-of-15 shots from the floor.
The lead would only go back to single digits once at 28-19 following a Ben Yagey (Highlands Ranch, CO) trifecta with 4:56 to go before intermission but WPI closed out the half strong punctuated by a Sevilla bank shot floater at the buzzer to give the Engineers a 37-24 edge at the half. The guests led by as many as 27 points after the break before Coast Guard whittled down the final deficit to 19.
Lufkin, who was making just his fourth appearance of the season after a preseason injury, finished as the game's top scorer. The senior drained 6-of-10 shots on the day, including 4-of-6 from downtown, on his way to 17 points in just 21 minutes of action. He finished just four points shy of his career-high of 21, set in December of 2022 in a victory at SUNY-Poly.
Adams tallied 11 points and equaled his career-high in rebounds with 15, which he set in the 2022 NEWMAC Tournament championship game against Emerson and this season's opener against Worcester State in November. It was the senior co-captain's 28th career double-double.
J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) added nine points while Tim Reidy (Needham, MA) and Nathan Bledsoe (San Antonio, TX) each contributed five points, including a 3-pointer. Aidan Callahan (Rowley, MA) chipped in with five points, a game-high four assists, a pair of steals and a block. The junior point guard did not commit a turnover as the Engineers only had seven miscues on the day.
Yagey finished with 12 points for the Bears while Cameron Brown amassed 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals and Parks had eight points, seven boards, and two blocked shots.
WPI returns home Saturday afternoon for just the third time since November 12th, hosting Emerson at 1pm. Oddly enough, Coast Guard is also back in action on Saturday at 1pm in Worcester, venturing to Clark.