BOSTON, Mass. – Leading for the nearly the entire contest, the Wentworth men's basketball team notched its sixth straight home win as the Leopards defeated the University of New England, 70-44, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest Wednesday night.
With the win the Leopards, who have now won 13 straight against UNE, improve to 10-8 overall and 8-3 in CCC play while the Nor'Easters fall to 10-8 (5-6).
Senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) and junior Matt Lettick (Orange, Conn.) traded baskets to open the contest before a sophomore Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) free throw would give the hosts the lead for good just 2:03 into the contest. Knollmeyer's free throw started a 10-2 run which would see Wentworth hold UNE without a field goal for 4:09.
Romich hit a three with 8:42 left in the half to make it a 17-8 contest before four straight points from senior Devin Thompson (Winthrop, Mass.) cut the lead to five with just under seven minutes left. Romich scored Wentworth's next seven points to extend the lead to 12 with 5:09 left and started a stretch where the Leopards outscored the Nor'Easters 13-0 before a Thompson free throw ended the scoring drought. Wentworth held UNE without a field goal over the final 8:17 of the half and took a 32-14 lead into the locker room.
Over the first 20 minutes, Wentworth held UNE to just 18.2 percent as the Nor'Easters were 4-for-22 from the floor.
Wentworth opened the second half on a 13-0 run to lead by 31 (45-14) with 16:01 left. Freshman Drew Patno (Lunenberg, Mass.) connected on a three on UNE's next possession to end the Nor'Easters' stretch without a field goal at 12:29.
The Leopards' lead swelled to as many as 37 with 4:16 left as the hosts shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the second half.
Romich led the Leopards with 18 points and junior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) added 14. Sophomore Matthew Dean (Gilford, N.H.) had eight points, sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) had seven points, and Knollmeyer grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out four assists. Wentworth had a 40-37 rebounding advantage and held UNE to 25.5 percent shooting for the game.
Patno led UNE with eight points and freshman Ryan Matthews (Park Ridge, N.J.) had seven points.
Both teams continue league play Saturday as Wentworth is at Curry and UNE hosts Nichols.