WPI Men's Basketball Held Off Worcester State, 57-51, in Non-Conference Matchup

WORCESTER, Mass. – Obi Obiora (Boston, MA), Clyde Niba (Atlanta, GA) and Ian Converse (Woodstock, CT) all recorded double-doubles as WPI held off city-foe Worcester State, 57-51, in a non-conference men's basketball matchup Tuesday night in Harrington Auditorium.

The Engineers improve to 5-0 for the seventh time in the last 11 years under 15-year head coach Chris Bartley, while the Lancers, coming off a setback to nationally-ranked Amherst, dip to 2-3 on the season.

Obiora paced all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Niba added 16 points and 12 boards and Converse turned in 11 points and 10 caroms. Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) and Shane Farley (Burlington, MA) each doled out a trio of assists as Converse logged a game-best four steals to go with three from Davis.

Jamal Mustapha (Worcester, MA/Doherty) paced the Lancers with 16 points while Dante Neal (Lawrence, MA) and Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, MA) each tallied 11. Bilal Shakir (Worcester, MA/Worcester Tech) collected eight rebounds – all defensive – and stuffed the stat sheet with six points, five assists and a steal. Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) blocked a trio of shots and Mustapha added three swipes.

Trailing 44-42, Converse was fouled on a layup with 6:39 to play and canned the free throw to give the hosts the final lead of the night. Obiora pushed the lead to six on a tip-in at 4:49 and Niba sank a freebie with four seconds remaining for the 57-51 final.

The first half featured seven lead changes, including six in a span of 4:40, and two ties. With WPI ahead 6-5 less than five minutes into the game, Mustapha drained a 3-pointer for the 8-6 Lancer advantage. Niba used a jumper and layup to tie the game and then take a 10-8 lead with 14:05 remaining in the half. Mustapha sandwiched a Davis jumper with a triple and a layup before Obiora hit a layup at 10:36 to claim the final lead of the half for the Engineers. Three more Crimson and Gray layups, two by Obiora and one by Farley pushed the advantage to seven with 7:55 on the scoreboard. Neal cut Worcester State's deficit to one with back-to-back threes at 6:07. The Engineers took a pair of five-point leads down the stretch before heading to the locker room with a 28-26 lead.

Bilal evened up the game just 48 seconds into the new half. The Lancers pushed out to a nine-point lead before Niba canned a pair of freebies with 15:11 to play. Niba later halted an Engineer 0-for-16 drought from the field with a jumper at 10:01 to cut the margin to four (40-36). McKreith-Collins added to the Lancers cushion with a triple 45 seconds later. Niba responded with one of his own on the next possession. Just over two minutes later, Converse converted the key traditional three-point play.

Both teams are back in action at home a week from tonight.  WPI tangles with Tufts at 7pm while Worcester State plays host to UMass Dartmouth at 8:30pm at a game to be played at Assumption.   

Release Courtesy of WPI Sports Information