Salve Regina Pulls Away from Men's Basketball

BOSTON, Mass. – Graduate student Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.) scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half as the Salve Regina University men's basketball team defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology, 78-64, in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.

RECORDS:

Wentworth (2-3, 1-1 CCC)
Salve Regina (2-6, 1-1 CCC)

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

WENTWORTH LEADING SCORERS:  Jack Connell, 21; Tyler Stewart, 8
WENTWORTH LEADING REBOUNDERS:  Jack Schaake, 6; Tyler Stewart, 4
WENTWORTH ASSIST LEADERS:  Jack Connell, 6; Tyler Stewart, 3; Thomas Hacker, 3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Salve Regina came out of the gates fast, scoring the first six points of the contest, with four coming from sophomore Jojo Powers (Dedham, Mass.) and two coming from sophomore Declan Walmsley (Franklin, Mass.). After a three pointer from Wentworth senior Sam Swift (Arlington, Mass.) cut the lead in half, Walmsley scored the next five points by way of a three pointer and a layup to give the Seahawks a 13-3 advantage with 15:09 left in the half.
• Using a 9-3 run, the Leopards pulled to within four on a freshman Nathan Brinkman (Trumbull, Conn.) three with 13:00 left and trailed by four on five other occasions, with the more recent occurrence coming on a sophomore Jack Connell (Walpole, Mass.) jumper with 3:59 left, making it 30-26. Salve Regina closed out the half on an 8-1 run, with a three-point play from Powers with 45 seconds left giving the Seahawks a 38-27 advantage at the break. Salve Regina shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
• Wentworth closed the gap to six over the fist 2:34 of the second half as senior Thomas Hacker's (Averill Park, NY.) layup capped off a 7-2 spurt. Salve Regina answered with a 7-0 run to take a 47-34 lead with 13:20 left before the Black & Gold eventually cut the lead to seven on a Connell layup. A 13-5 Seahawk run gave the visitors a 62-47 lead with seven minutes left after a Spencer three.
• The Leopards cut the lead to nine on two occasions as Connell buried a three with 2:09 left and Hacker answered with a layup 23 seconds later. However, that would be as close as the hosts would come.
• Powers and Walmsley each scored 16 points in the win. Salve Regina shot 61.9 percent from the floor in the second half and 58.3 percent for the game while holding a 29-26 rebounding advantage.
• Connell led the Leopards with 21 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Classmate Tyler Stewart (East Taunton, Mass.) added eight, while senior Jack Schaake (Hampton, N.H.), senior Conor Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.), and Hacker each scored six. Schaake was the Black & Gold's leading rebound with six.

SERIES NOTES:

• Today marked the 70th all-time meeting between the two teams. Winners of the last three in the series, Salve Regina leads, 37-33.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is at Western New England on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Wentworth Leopards "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.