WPI Wins Sixth-Straight Worcester City Championship
Worcester, MA --- Tournament MVP Adam Lirette tallied 14 points to lift WPI to a 64-48 victory over Nichols in the championship game of the 2008 Worcester County Classic hosted by Worcester State on Sunday afternoon. The win gives the Engineers their sixth straight title since the tournament was revived in 2003.
WPI 64, Nichols 48
Worcester, MA --- Tournament MVP Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) tallied 14 points to lift WPI to a 64-48 victory over Nichols in the championship game of the 2008 Worcester County Classic hosted by Worcester State on Sunday afternoon. The win gives the Engineers their sixth straight title since the tournament was revived in 2003.
Lirette nailed a pair of key second half three-pointers, the first of which sparked a 20-3 run that turned a one-point Bison edge into a 48-32 WPI advantage with just under eight minutes to go. After Nichols responded with nine straight points of their own to slice the WPI lead to seven, Lirette responded with his second trifecta. The three-pointers came after the Engineers connected on just one of their first 20 attempts from behind the arc.
Freshman Fernando Perez (Lowell, MA) registered a game-best 17 points for the Crimson and Gray on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor and All-Tournament selection Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA) contributed eight points and four steals.
Chris Smith (Moosup, CT) paced the Nichols attack by corralling a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points. All-Tournament selections Bryan Riley (West Boylston, MA) and Chris Paquin (Barre, MA) chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Points off turnovers ended up being a large factor, as WPI parlayed 32 Nichols miscues into 26 points, while the Bison could only convert 11 WPI turnovers into two points.
The first half was tightly contested throughout, with neither team enjoying an advantage larger then four points. Nichols took a 25-24 lead into the locker room at the break. The Bison shot an eye-popping 66.7% from the floor and enjoyed a 19-8 edge on the glass, but were saddled with 18 turnovers during the opening stanza.
Becker's Travis Suber (Springfield, MA) and Worcester State Maurice Horton (Detroit, MI) also earned all-tournament accolades. Earlier in the afternoon, Becker defeated host Worcester State, 87-68, in the consolation game.
WPI will be back on Thursday at 7pm, traveling to Rhode Island College to face nationally ranked Anchormen. Nichols returns to the court on Tuesday at 8pm, entertaining Suffolk in its home opener.
Story written by Ray Cotrufo - WPI Athletics Department