Men's Basketball Defeats UNE for Season-High Fourth Straight Win

BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomores Jack Connell (Walpole, Mass.) and Tyler Stewart (East Taunton, Mass.) combined for 45 points on 16-of-25 shooting as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team won its season-high fourth straight game with an 80-67 triumph at the University of New England.

RECORDS:
Wentworth (12-8, 7-6 CCC)
University of New England (2-18, 0-13 CCC)

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

WENTWORTH LEADING SCORERS:  Jack Connell, 25; Tyler Stewart, 20; Jack Schaake, 10
WENTWORTH LEADING REBOUNDERS:  Stewart, 6; Conor Rubenskas, 6; Nathan Brinkman, 6
WENTWORTH ASSIST LEADERS:  Connell, 6

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After falling behind, 2-0, to open the game, Wentworth went on a 7-2 run, with Connell burying a pair of free throws with 15:34 left to take a 7-4 lead. The Leopards extended their lead to 11-6 on a senior Conor Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) layup and, after the University of New England closed the gap to one (11-10) on a sophomore Kyle Lombardi (Waterbury, Conn.) layup, pushed the lead to 21-14 when Connell made a jumper with 9:07 left.
• The Leopards took a 10-point lead at the 5:46 mark when senior Jack Schaake (Hampton, N.H.) hit a jumper and after a 5-2 spurt by the Nor'Easters Connell hit back-to-back threes to give Wentworth a 38-25 lead with 2:47 remaining in the half. UNE scored the next four points, bringing the lead back to single digits but a junior Sam Goy (Derry, N.H.) jumper with 48 ticks left gave the Leopards a 40-29 lead at the break.
• Graduate student Winston Bryan (Greensboro, N.C.) hit a three to open the second half and freshman Adrian Torres (Dracut, Mass.) followed with a layup, cutting the lead to six (40-34), 65 seconds into the half. A Connell three started an 8-0 run which saw the Black & Gold take a 48-34 lead on a freshman Nathan Brinkman (Trumbull, Conn.) three with 16:04 left.
• Wentworth maintained a double-digit lead throughout the remainder of the contest, and held the hosts scoreless over a span of 3:26, while extending its lead to 16 with under four minutes left. A Schaake layup with 1:27 left gave the Leopards their largest lead of the night, 79-61.
• Connell scored a game-high 25 points, coming on 9-of-17 shooting, while dishing out six assists. Stewart added 10 on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with six rebounds, while Schaake added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

SERIES NOTES:

• Winners of the last three series meetings, Wentworth leads all-time, 31-26.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth hosts Endicott on Saturday afternoon.

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