BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) connected on 7-of-13 shots from the floor to lead three players in double figures with 17 points as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 71-54 triumph over Eastern Nazarene in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Leopards improve to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in league play while the Lions fall to 3-3 (0-2).
Shooting 50 percent from the floor in the opening half, Wentworth built its lead to 12 with 11:11 remaining after sophomore Colin Mulvaney (Jenkintown, Pa.) hit one of the Leopards' seven first-half three pointers. After freshman David Lopez (Miami, Fla.) countered with a long-range shot of his own, Wentworth scored the next eight points and took a 28-11 lead on a trifecta from Ganley with 7:17 remaining. A pair of free throws from senior Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) gave the Black & Gold their largest lead of the half at 34-14 and the hosts led, 38-20, at the break.
Eastern Nazarene opened the second half on a 9-2 run and closed the gap to 40-29 after a sophomore Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) layup with 16:23 remaining. Baskets by senior Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.), senior Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.), and sophomore Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) pushed the lead back to 17 with 14:56 remaining in the contest.
The Lions chipped away and made it a 13-point game after a basket from Lopez, however, would not get closer, as a Mulvaney three pointer and a layup by Azums extended the lead to 18. Azums' basket with 8:11 left gave the hosts their largest lead of the contest at 61-40.
Azums finished with a double-double as he scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win. Knollmeyer had 10 points to round out the trio of double-figure scorers while Mulvaney added nine points. Fulcar and Kizel had four assists apiece. Wentworth scored 21 points off 16 Eastern Nazarene turnovers.
Cheney and freshman Trey-Von Davis (Moore, S.C.) scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, to lead Eastern Nazarene
Both teams host conference games on Tuesday night as Wentworth will host Salve Regina, while Eastern Nazarene welcomes Western New England.
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