BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team made 16 three-pointers on 59 percent accuracy from long distance to coast past the University of New England, 74-40, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Tuesday evening (Jan. 7) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
With their third straight win, the Leopards (3-1 CCC) move to 6-5 on the season. The Nor'easters fall back to 1-10 overall, 1-3 in league play.
Freshman Jherson Colon (Boston, Mass.) paced Wentworth with 15 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting from deep. Senior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) added 11 points and seven rebounds, while junior John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 points and six boards.
For the game, the visitors connected on 50 percent of their field goal attempts and posted a 42-27 advantage on the glass.
UNE received a team-high 11 points from senior Kurt Steiner (Rutland, Mass.). First-year Tom Nason (Milton, N.H.) scored 10 points in 11 minutes of play during the second half.
Big Blue struggled to find the range all night, making just 25.5 percent (14 for 55) from the floor and 23 percent (3 of 13) from behind the arc.
After the Nor'easters started with a 7-5 edge less than five minutes into the contest, the Leopards rattled off a 19-0 run in nine minutes to take control. Wentworth scored 21 of its 29 first-half points on treys and maintained a lead of 17 (29-12) at intermission.
Wentworth stayed hot following the break, and drained nine of its initial 11 shots from three-point-land in the frame to build the margin up to as many as 39 (70-31).
The Leopards will be at home for the first time in five games on Thursday, entertaining Eastern Nazarene College at 7:30 p.m.
UNE heads to Salve Regina University the same day and time.
