Men's Basketball Fends off UMass Boston for Third Straight Win

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Trey Carrier (Wilton, N.H.) and sophomore Noah Bice (Woodacre, Calif.) each scored 17 points as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team (9-3) picked up its third straight win as the Leopards fended off the University of Massachusetts Boston (6-4), 61-55, in non-conference action Thursday afternoon.

With the win, the Leopards snap a seven-game series losing streak to the Beacons, picking up their first win in eight meetings between the two programs.

THE BASICS:

LEADING SCORERS:  Trey Carrier, 17; Noah Bice, 17
LEADING REBOUNDER:  Stephen Azums, 9
ASSIST LEADER:  Kevin Fernandez, 4

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The game featured five ties in the first 7:42, with the fifth coming when UMass Boston senior Dasan Cinelli (Boston, Mass.) hit a three. Freshman Jack Schaake (Hampton, N.H.) gave Wentworth the lead back when his basket started a 6-0 spurt, which was capped off by a junior Mayo Aina (Providence, R.I.) layup with 10:31 left in the half.
• Four straight Beacon points put the visitors within two with just under nine minutes left before a three from Bice extended the lead to five 2:13 later. Wentworth led by four (26-22) with 1:55 left in the opening frame on a putback from Schaake, however, Cinelli and junior Charlie Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) scored 43 seconds apart to tie the game at 26-all.
• Wentworth held UMass Boston to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half, including allowing the Beacons to shoot just 1-of-10 from behind the three-point arc.
• Sophomore Malik Lorquet (Sharon, Mass.) opened the second half with a dunk to give UMass Boston the lead, however, Carrier answered with a three, beginning the first of three lead changes in a span of 52 seconds. Junior Tyler Lennon's (Atkinson, N.H.) three with 17:15 left gave the hosts a 32-30 lead, however, junior Michael Boyd (Malden, Mass.) answered with a jumper to even the score at 32-all. Senior Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) made a layup and Bice nailed a three, giving the Black & Gold a five-point lead with 14:28 remaining. Wentworth led by five on two other occasions, including after sophomore Kevin Fernandez (Lawrence, Mass.) hit two free throws with 10:25 left to make it 41-36.
• Using a 7-1 run, the Beacons took a 43-42 lead with 8:16 left. However, the lead did not last long as Carrier drained a three on the next possession to give the Leopards a 45-43 lead. Cinelli answered with a basket of his own to tie the game and junior Charles Mitchell (Boston, Mass.) gave UMass Boston a 47-45 lead with a layup with 47-45 left. Bice countered with a pair of threes, sandwiched around a Cinelli basket, to give Wentworth a 51-49 lead and his layup with 4:19 left extended the lead to four.
• The Beacons cut the lead to two on three occasions, including when Cinelli hit a jumper with 1:50 left. After a Wentworth missed jumper, UMass Boston had the rebound and looked to tie the game, however, a turnover gave Wentworth the ball back where junior Kyle Henseler (Coventry, R.I.) hit a jumper to extend the lead. After another turnover, Azums extended the lead to five with one of two free throws and an Azums free throw with 11 seconds remaining accounted for the final score.
• In addition to his 17 points, Carrier also grabbed seven rebounds. Azums led the Leopards with nine rebounds while Fernandez had four assists and Henseler had three assists and three steals.
• Cinelli led all scorers with 19 points while grabbing 18 rebounds and blocking three shots.
• Wentworth shot 57 percent from behind the arc, including going 6-for-8 in the second half and held UMass Boston to 1-for-18 from three-point land.

SERIES NOTES:

• Today marked the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs and the first at Wentworth since January 8, 2004. UMass Boston holds a 7-1 series advantage.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth resumes Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Tuesday (January 7) at Curry.

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