New London, CT – Senior captain Aidan Callahan (Rowley, MA) knocked down a mid-range jumper for the go-ahead bucket in the waning seconds to lift the nationally-ranked No.18 WPI Men's Basketball to a 75-74 nail-biting NEWMAC victory over Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon inside Roland Gymnasium.
WPI, winners of ten consecutive contests and ranked 18th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, is now 18-2 on the season and 10-1 in conference play. Coast guard falls to 7-12 overall and 3-7 in NEWMAC action.
Declan Rooney (Seattle, WA) got the Bears on the scoreboard first, hitting a pair of free throws. Callahan responded for the Engineers, adding a layup at the 17:52 mark. WPI quickly stretched its lead, with Justin Molen (Newark, DE) knocking down a three-pointer on the next possession. Coast Guard then regained the advantage, 6-5, after Rooney connected on a jumper, accounting for all six of the Bears' opening points.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle, with neither team holding a lead larger than four points. WPI mounted a 7-0 run to narrow the gap to three, sparked by a rare four-point play from Molen and capped off by a three-pointer from Nathan Bledsoe (San Antonio, TX), bringing the score to 21-17 with 9:07 remaining. After the Engineers briefly led 24-23, Coast Guard's Aiden Dabbondanza (Gaithersburg, MD) stepped up with two trips to the free-throw line, converting a perfect 4-of-4 to give the Bears a 27-24 lead with just under five minutes left in the half.
The Engineers took a four-point lead after J.R. Newman (Havertown, PA) sank two free throws to bring the score to 31-27. Just before the break, Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, NJ) made a layup to trim the deficit to one, leaving the score 32-31 as the teams headed into halftime.
WPI was held to 33.3% (10-of-30) of field goals and 5-of-17 of treys in the first half. Molen notched nine first half points and Newman added six points. Coast Guard shot 11-of-28 (39.3%) from the court and 32 points in the paint. Rooney contributed eight points and Farrell tallied six points.
Farrell opened the second half with a three-pointer, putting the Bears ahead 34-32. Coast Guard then built its largest lead of the game thus far, a seven-point advantage, after a jumper from Rooney, making it 45-38 with 14:57 remaining. The Bears extended their lead to eight after an Elijah Parent (Bristol, CT) three-pointer at the 7:02 mark, pushing the score to 58-50. However, WPI responded with an 11-2 run, taking a 61-60 lead with 2:29 to play. The run was fueled by Newman, who scored seven of the 11 points during the stretch.
A series of back-and-forth free throws brought the score to 63-62 in favor of WPI with 1:52 remaining. Both teams missed shots on their next possessions, but then Rooney hit a layup to put the Bears ahead 64-63 with 1:05 left. Tim Reidy (Needham, MA) quickly answered with a three-pointer, giving WPI a two-point lead with 39 seconds to play. With just 4.3 seconds remaining, Farrell hit a hook shot for Coast Guard, tying the game at 66-66 and sending it into overtime.
Overtime started with Coast Guard taking possession and quickly scoring a layup, but Newman answered for WPI with a jumper, tying the game at 68-68 with 4:19 left in the first overtime. After three scoreless possessions, Marelli broke the drought with a layup for the Engineers. On the next possession, a foul sent Farrell to the line for the Bears, where he went 1-for-2, keeping WPI in front 70-69. Marelli then went to the line for the Engineers, converting 1-of-2 to extend their lead to two with 2:22 remaining. Farrell responded for Coast Guard, sinking both free throws to tie the game at 71-71 with 2:08 left. WPI missed their next shot, and Colin Huang (Irvine, CA) went 1-for-2 at the line, giving Coast Guard a one-point lead with 1:20 to play.
After two more scoreless possessions, a double foul sent Parent from the Bears and Reidy from the Engineers to the line, with both players making 2-for-2 free throws, keeping Coast Guard ahead 74-73 with 15 seconds left. WPI got the final possession, and Callahan came in clutch with a jumper with just seven seconds remaining. The Bears had a final chance to score, but Marelli buckled down for the Engineers, and Molen tipped the ball away, securing a 75-74 victory for WPI.
Newman led the Engineers with 21 points and a game-high three blocks. Marelli chipped in with 13 points and seven boards while Reidy added 12 points. Molen and Callahan were each one stat shy of a double-double, with Molen having nine points and 10 rebounds and Callahan tallying nine points and nine assists. For the Bears, Farrell notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards. Rooney tacked on 18 points and six rebounds. Huang stuffed the stat sheet with five points, five boards, three assists and two steals.
Both teams shot in the 40% range for field goals, with WPI making 25-of-62 (40.3%) and Coast Guard shooting 26-of-64 (40.6%). WPI held an advantage in treys, 7-3, and fastbreak points, 13-4.
Both teams proceed with NEWMAC action next Wednesday. WPI hosts Emerson at 7pm while Coast Guard takes a trip to Worcester to face off against Clark at 5pm.
Recap written by WPI Sports Information Student Assistant Maya Vartabedian '24 '25