#8 WPI Rolls Past Men's Basketball, 87-71

Worcester, MA --- WPI junior Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT) notched his third career double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds as he helped lead #8 WPI to an 87-71 triumph over Worcester State in non-conference men's basketball action this evening at the Lancer Gym. 

The Engineers improved their season mark to 15-0 and extended their school-record winning streak to 17 games dating back to last year's ECAC Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The Lancers fell to 7-6 overall with the setback.

WPI was also paced by sophomore Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) who finished with 18 points and five rebounds. Kolb did his damage off 8-for-19 shooting while he was also 6-for-8 from the free throw line with a pair of triples. 

Freshman teammates Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) and Zach Karalis (N. Andover, MA) along with second-year Marco Coppola (Watertown, MA) all chipped in with nine points apiece. Davis added five assists and four swipes to his stat line this evening.

The Lancers were propelled by junior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) who scored a game-best 23 points with nine boards. 

Senior Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) tallied 15 points off a 7-for-10 performance on the night as freshman Alex Lopez (Springfield, MA/Commerce) recorded 11 points with a perfect 7-for-7 line from the charity stripe.

Leading 12-8 at the 14:05 mark, the Crimson and Gray offense exploded and used a 23-7 spurt to open up a 35-15 advantage with just under eight minutes left in the opening stanza. WPI hit four trey's and went 9-for-13 from the field in the run. 

The visitors also settled for the 50-28 edge at the intermission.

The Engineers lead dipped below 15 points just twice more in the contest. With the score 55-33 early on the second half, Worcester State went on an 11-2 surge to trail 57-44 with 13:57 left in regulation. 

As WPI led 64-50 with 11:17 on the clock, the visitors put the game out of reach with a 13-3 run to open up a 77-53 edge just after the eight minute mark as they cruised ahead for the win.

Despite the double-digit setback, Worcester State actually outshot the Engineers with a final tally of 49 percent for the contest (24-for-49), but they hit just two of their 12 attempts from downtown (17 percent). 

WPI dropped 45 percent of their shots (32-for-71) and nailed 10 three-pointers in the contest (39 percent – 10-for-26).

The Engineers netted over one-third of their points off of turnovers (30-11) while leading in total rebounds (38-35), offensive caroms (16-8), second chance points (13-10) and points in transition (17-8). 

Both teams were even in points in the paint (38-38) and WSU actually outscored their counterparts 43-37 in the second stanza.

On Saturday both squads will return to their respective league schedules. Worcester State hosts MCLA at 5 PM while WPI travels south to play Wheaton at 1 PM.