Men's Basketball Falls To Crosstown Rival WPI, 78-61

Worcester, MA --- WPI senior Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT) and junior Ryan Longwell (Acton, MA) combined for 37 points and 10 boards as they helped pace the Engineers to a 78-61 victory over crosstown rival Worcester State in non-conference basketball action this evening at Harrington Auditorium. 

The Crimson and Gray, who are ranked #15 in the first D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll of the season, improve to 4-1 on the season while the Lancers slip to 0-4 on the young season.

Kolb poured in a game-best 21 points off an 8-for-12 effort from the field while Longwell chipped in with 16 points and six rebounds. Freshman Sean Doncaster (Medford, MA) added 12 points and six caroms off the bench with three trifectas.

Doncaster matched the effort of sophomore Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) who dished out a contest-high five assists.

The Lancers were paced by senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) who finished with 17 points and a game-best 13 boards for his fourth double-double in as many games.

Junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) registered 12 points and first-year Noris Cuevas-Nova (Amherst, MA) notched a double-digit effort with 10 points.

With the score close early on, the Lancers used back-to-back treys by Rios and Jobst in a 10-0 run for the 15-5 advantage with 14:57 left.

After the Engineers answered with a 7-2 surge of their own to trail by two 1½ minutes later (14-12), the Blue and Gold came right back with an 11-4 spurt for their largest margin of the period near the midway point (25-16).

The Boynton Hillers trimmed the deficit to four on three occasions - including the 7:29 mark (27-23) and again with the halftime score as the Lancers led 36-32 at the intermission.

WPI came out of the locker room with a vengeance, outscoring the visitors 22-4 over the first six minutes for the 54-40 lead as they sank seven of their first 11 field goal attempts. Davis keyed the spurt with an old fashioned three point play and the Engineers hit four shots from downtown in the run.

The Lancers never threatened as the Crimson and Gray maintained their double-digit margin for the rest of the contest. WPI's largest lead was 20 points near the halfway point of the second period (67-47).

WPI, who shot 46 percent for the game (25-for-54), held advantages in rebounds (35-31), points off turnovers (24-21) and fast break points (14-2). The hosts also netted almost a quarter of their sum in the contests at the charity stripe (19 points).

Worcester State was ahead in points in the paint (32-28) and second-chance points (17-10). 

Both teams will play again a week from today's game in 7 PM matchups. The Engineers host Tufts while the Blue and Gold entertain UMass Dartmouth at Anna Maria.