BOSTON, Mass. – Senior forward Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass.) connected on 14 of 19 shots for a game-high 29 points, while junior guard Dan Main (Hopedale, Mass.) went 8-for-12 from the floor for 21 points as the Wheelock men's basketball team opened the 2009-2010 season with a 79-63 win over Wentworth in a non-league contest played at Tansey Gymnasium.
The Wildcats took an early 9-2 lead and never looked back, thanks to a pair of three pointers from Main and a three-point play from Robbins. Main would connect on a fast break layup with 13:15 left in the half to give Wheelock a 17-7 lead before the Leopards went on an 8-2 run over the next 3:45 to cut the lead to four (19-15) on a basket from freshman guard Sean Bertanza (Seymour, Conn.).
Wheelock responded with an 8-0 run of its own in a 1:38 span and jumped ahead, 27-15 with 9:11 left. Wentworth eventually trimmed the lead to six with 4:06 left when sophomore guard Eric Prue (Auburn, Maine) hit two free throws, but a Robbins layup with 1:30 left would push the lead to 10. Two free throws from sophomore Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) cut the lead to 40-32, but a sophomore guard Kyle Pierce (Burlington, Mass.) layup gave the Wildcats a 10-point lead at the break.
Senior forward Shane West (Saco, Maine) opened the second half with a layup to cut the lead back to eight, but that would be as close as Wentworth would come as the Wildcats outscored the Leopards by a 20-8 margin over the next seven and a half minutes to take a 20-point lead and put the game out of reach.
In addition to his 29 points, Robbins also had nine rebounds and four assists. Sophomore forward Eric Rice (Woburn, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, while Pierce had seven assists. As a team Wheelock shot 54.5 percent.
West led all Wentworth scorers with 16 points, coming on 7-for-8 shooting. Bertanza chipped in with 11, while senior forward Matt Abbott (Falmouth, Mass.) had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Wheelock (1-0) faces Springfield at the UMass Dartmouth Tip-Off Tournament on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Wentworth will be searching for its first win of the season as the Leopards have Berkeley (N.Y.) in the Ramapo Tip-Off Tournament Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
