BOSTON, Mass. – Seniors Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) and Colin Johnson (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) scored 16 and 15 points, respectively to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team to its fifth straight win, a 74-67 triumph over Newbury in non-conference action at Tansey Gymnasium.
After Leopard senior Dailon Wilson (Houston, Texas) scored the opening basket, the Nighthawks got three straight points from senior Peterson Bernard (Boston, Mass.) to take a 3-2 lead with 17:17 left. However, Wentworth responded with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes and took a 13-3 lead on a Johnson steal and layup. During the run, Johnson had five points while freshman Cam Sennick (Wilton, Maine) had four.
Newbury eventually whittled the lead down to three (22-19) when sophomore Milciades Carrasco (Haverhill, Mass.) hit three free throws and the Nighthawks found themselves trailing by that amount after a sophomore Dallas Serrano (Valley Stream, N.Y.) basket with 5:26 to play.
A 16-5 run, keyed by four points from senior Matt Harte (Troy, N.Y.) and three apiece from Therriault, Johnson, sophomore Ray Bessette (Dedham, Maine), and sophomore Nico Donato (Glastonbury, Conn.) gave Wentworth a 43-29 lead at the break. Over the first 20 minutes the Leopards shot 53.3 percent while holding the Nighthawks to 36.7 percent.
Wentworth maintained a double digit lead for the majority of the second half and took a 68-56 lead with 4:33 left on a Donato layup. Newbury responded with five points from Carrasco and a pair of free throws from Bernard to trim the lead to 68-63 with 3:00 left. A pair of Therriault baskets, sandwiched around a Nighthawk turnover gave the hosts a nine-point edge with 2:07 left and sealed the win.
In addition to his 16 points, Therriault also had three rebounds and four assists, while Johnson grabbed four rebounds. Wilson finished with eight points, eight rebounds, and four assists; Donato added nine points and five assists; and junior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) had a game-high 10 rebounds. The Leopards hit their first 15 free throws, en route to a 17-for-19 night from the charity stripe and, in addition to shooting 50 percent from the floor, held a 41-27 rebounding edge.
Newbury was led by junior Kwame Thompson (Brockton, Mass.), who had a game-high 24 points on 11-for-21 shooting. Carrasco scored 13 points, while junior Steve Rosemond (Everett, Mass.) chipped in with 10.
After starting the season 0-2, Wentworth improves to 5-2 and is idle until traveling to Gordon on Saturday, December 15, for a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest against the Fighting Scots. Newbury falls to 3-5 and is at Southern Vermont on Saturday in New England Collegiate Conference action.
