Western New England Clips Wentworth, 87-80

BOSTON, Mass. — Shooting 76.9 percent (20-for-26) in the second half, the Western New England men's basketball team erased a four-point halftime deficit and won its fourth straight contest and defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 87-80, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at Tansey Gym.

The host Leopards came out firing, connecting on their first six shots to take a 13-3 lead 2:05 into the contest. During the opening minutes sophomore guard Adam Dombrowski (Groton, Mass.) buried a pair of three pointers. Trailing 15-5 with 17:01 left in the half, the Golden Bears used a 7-0 run to trim the lead to three (15-12).

After Wentworth upped its lead back to seven, Western New England got five consecutive points from senior guard Mike Booker (Springfield, Mass.) to cut the lead down to just two (21-19) with 11:09 left.

Wentworth went on a 12-2 run and took a 33-21 lead on a three pointer from senior guard Jack Barrett (Reading, Mass.) with 6:39 to play. The Golden Bears twice got the lead down to six before Wentworth extended the lead back to double digits at 44-34 with 1:52. However, Western New England scored the final six points of the half – four by senior guard Rick Johnson (Springfield, Mass.) – to head into the locker room trailing by four at 44-40.

The Leopards opened the second half with a basket by junior forward Sam Herrick (Duxbury, Mass.), but back-to-back three pointers from sophomore guard Andre Shaw (Jamaica, N.Y.) and junior guard Andre Duncan (Bronx, N.Y.) tied the game and a layup by Shaw gave the Golden Bears their first lead of the game, 48-46, with 17:41 left.

After Dombrowski hit a three pointer to put Wentworth back up by a point, junior guard Chris Devine countered with a basket that gave WNEC the lead for good, 50-49, with 16:49 remaining in the contest. The Golden Bears would lead by as much as six before consecutive Wentworth baskets trimmed the lead to two. However, a 12-4 WNEC run brought the lead back to 10, capped off by a Devine basket.

Wentworth would get as close as five with 1:57 remaining, but a three-point play by Devine with 1:46 left brought the lead back to eight, and, despite going 1-for-7 from the foul line in the final 1:15, the Golden Bears held on for the win.

Devine led all scorers with 26 points, coming on 12-for-16 from the floor. Nineteen of his points came in the second half. Four other players scored in double digits for the Golden Bears as Johnson scored 18 of 7-for-10 shooting, while Shaw and junior forward Brad Thomka (Springfield, Mass.) each added 12. Booker scored 11 and had five assists in the win.

Wentworth, which was held to 39.4 percent shooting in the second half, also had five players score in double digits wit Dombrowski (17 points) leading the way. Freshman guard Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) had 11 points, while Barrett, Herrick, and West each chipped in with 10. Herrick also had 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

With the win Western New England improves to 8-7 on the year and 3-1 in conference play, while Wentworth falls to 6-9 (2-2). Both teams are back in action on Saturday as the Golden Bears are at Salve Regina and the Leopards are at Endicott.