BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) scored season-high 24 points and freshman Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) added 17 points and seven rebounds as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team halted its two-game losing streak with a 71-47 win over Eastern Nazarene in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest Tuesday night.
With the win the Leopards improve to 9-11 overall and climb back above .500 in CCC play with a 7-6 record while the Lions fall to 9-11 (6-7).
Trailing by a point early, Wentworth used an 11-2 run to take a 14-6 lead with 14:45 left after junior Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) hit two free throws. During the run, DeVaux had five points. Sophomore Patrick Michel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) hit two free throws to temporarily halt the run, however the Black & Gold scored seven straight points and led, 21-8, after an Azums layup with 12:48 left.
Less than a minute later senior Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) had a transition jumper with ended a spell of just over three minutes without a field goal for the Lions. Lynch also converted a layup with 10:46 left to cut the deficit to 10, however a 10-3 run – capped off by a trifecta from DeVaux – made it 33-16 with 4:25 remaining.
Three of four free throws from DeVaux with just over a minute left gave Wentworth its largest lead of the half at 38-18 and the Leopards would lead, 38-21, at the break. In the first half Wentworth shot 50 percent from the floor and held the Lions to 28.6 percent, including not allowing a three pointer (0-for-6).
Wentworth missed its first five shots of the second half and the Lions capitalized, using an 8-0 run to bring the lead to 38-29 with just under 17 minutes remaining. However, baskets from Ganley and junior Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) pushed the lead to 13 points.
Eastern Nazarene shaved two points off the lead on three occasions, including when Lynch hit two free throws at the 11:43 mark but DeVaux hit a three and Azums made a layup to push the lead to 16 and the Lions would get no closer.
DeVaux was 8-for-14 from the floor, including going 5-for-10 from behind the arc, and grabbed five rebounds. Azums was 7-for-9 from the floor and also had three assists. Ganey finished with eight points and five rebounds while freshman Matt Vartanian (Salem, N.H.) and junior Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.) each had six points and five rebounds. Wentworth had a 42-28 rebounding advantage and forced the Lions to shoot 28.8 percent from the floor.
Lynch led Eastern Nazarene with 15 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Senior David Eddings (Endicott, N.Y.) had 11 points.
Both teams are back in action Saturday. Wentworth is at Western New England while Eastern Nazarene hosts Salve Regina.
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