SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior Jason Ganley's (Northbridge, Mass.) gam-high 25 points led three players in double figures as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team picked up its second straight victory with a 70-65 win over Western New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Leopards improve to 10-11 overall and 8-6 in league play while the Golden Bears fall to 4-16 (3-11).
The visitors opened a quick, 5-0 lead on a Ganley jumper and a three pointer from senior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.). Western New England battled back to take a 9-7 lead on a senior Daniel Silva (Seekonk, Mass.) layup with just under 15 minutes left.
Wentworth went on an 8-0 run, capped off by three free throws from DeVaux, to make it 15-9 with 12:35 left and again led by six after Ganley hit two from the charity stripe with 8:00 left. The Leopards led by as many as nine when Ganley hit two free throws with 5:29 left, however Western New England clawed its way back, using a 14-5 run to close the half and tied the game at 35-all on a sophomore Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) layup just before the buzzer sounded.
The Leopards regained the lead early in the second half, taking a five-point advantage with 16:32 left on a freshman Matt Vartanian (Salem, N.H.) basket. Six straight points gave the Golden Bears a 42-41 lead on a Pettway basket and began a back-and-forth portion of the contest which featured three ties and two lead changes. Trailing by a basket, Wentworth went on an 11-2 run and took a 55-48 lead on two free throws from Ganley and Ganley gave the visitors a 61-52 lead with a basket with 5:17 remaining.
Wentworth upped its lead to 10 on two free throws from junior Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) with 2:58 left, however Western New England would not go quietly, using a 10-3 run to cut the lead to 68-65 on a three by Silva with 21 seconds left. With 13 seconds left Ganley sealed the win with two free throws.
In addition to Ganley's 25 points, DeVaux finished with a dozen and junior Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) added 10. Vartanian had a game-high 10 rebounds. As a team Wentworth went to the free throw line 43 times and had a 46-31 rebounding advantage.
Wentworth is at Salve Regina on Wednesday.
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