BOSTON, Mass. – An 11-1 run over a span of 6:11 in the second half extended the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team's lead from nine to 19 as the Leopards pulled away from Western New England, 70-48, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest Thursday night at Tansey Gymnasium.
Junior Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) led three Leopards in double figures with 11 points as the Leopards improve to 4-8 overall and 2-3 in CCC play. The Golden Bears were handed their ninth straight loss to fall to 1-10 overall and 0-5 in league play.
Freshman Matt Vartanian (Salem, N.H.) picked up the Leopards first points before senior Daniel Silva (Seekonk, Mass.) evened the score 1:47 later. From there, Wentworth went on a 17-2 run and took a 19-4 lead with 10:41 left in the first half on a pair of junior Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.) free throws.
With Wentworth holding a 17-point lead after a pair of junior Michael Boaheng (Worcester, Mass.) free throws with 7:43 left, Western New England crept back in the game, outscoring the hosts 19-6 and pulled within four on a freshman Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) three pointer. Wentworth answered by scoring the final four points of the half as Vartanian hit a jumper and Kizel beat the buzzer with a jumper of his own which stretched the lead to eight (35-27).
Graduate student Luis Agrait (South Hadley, Mass.) hit a three pointer to open the second half, however a 6-2 Leopard spurt brought the lead to nine. After freshman Nick DeGennaro (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) brought the lead to seven, Kizel started the run which would extend the Leopard lead with a jumper with 16:46 left. A pair of three pointers from junior Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) and a three pointer from classmate Matthew Dean (Gilford, N.H.) pushed the lead to 17 and a layup by Fulcar made it 54-35 with 11:28 remaining.
Senior Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) scored Western New England's first field goal in a span of nearly seven minutes, however seven straight Wentworth points put an end to Western new England's comeback bid.
Kizel was 5-for-5 from the floor and also grabbed three rebounds, had three assists, and three steals. Vartanian had 10 points and seven rebounds and Knollmeyer had 10 points, three rebounds, and four assists. DeVaux added seven points and seven rebounds while Fulcar and Dean each finished with eight points. Boaheng had six points and a career-high eight rebounds. Wentworth held a 43-24 rebounding advantage and held the Golden Bears to under 40 percent shooting (36.5) for the game.
Wentworth hosts Roger Williams on Saturday.
