Men’s Basketball Cruises Past University of New England

BOSTON, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team cruised to a 99-85 victory over the University of New England Nor'Easters on Tuesday night. Colin Mannke recorded his sixth double double of the season with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds while Chase Mello shot 7-10 from the field for 17 points and dished out nine assists. Jayden Williams added 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal off the bench and Russel Dolabany scored 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Nor'Easters opened the game with a three but two quick scores from Mello and Dolabany put the Leopards in front. Donovan Holway and Mannke added to the tally before Jayden Thornton and Adam Lux scored back-to-back buckets to give the visitors an 11-9 lead four minutes in. Wentworth then went on a 14-0 run, capped off by a pair of free throws by Williams, to take a double digit lead.
• Williams hit a three and added a layup to keep the Leopards in front at the midway mark of the first half, but two free throws from Gabe Galarraga made it a five point game. After the Nor'Easters cut the lead to one, Dolabany knocked down a triple and Mello added five quick points to put Wentworth in front by seven.
• Mello and Mannke continued to lead the offense, adding five points out of a UNE timeout, extending the lead to 12 points. The duo combined for another five points just a minute later, giving the Leopards a 48-31 edge with 3:41 remaining in the half. Andy Weeman and Dylan Olson added buckets late to send the Leopards into the halftime break with a commanding 56-38 lead.
• Mannke picked up where he left off, scoring the first five points of the half for the Leopards. Mello followed with a three as the lead grew to 19 points early in the frame. Wentworth kept feeding Mannke the ball and he kept adding to his tally, hitting a three and adding a layup to push the advantage to 24 points. Williams and Davis Lunn added scores as the Leopards held an 82-60 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.
• Dolabany and Lunn hit back-to-back threes while Weeman, Olson, and Mello added to their tallies as the game approached the final five minutes. Mike Yentin hit a nice jumper to give the Leopards a 97-73 lead with three and a half minutes to play. The Nor'Easters fought until the buzzer, getting the deficit down to 14, but the Leopards came away with the victory.
• Wentworth shot 52% from the field and 39% from behind the arc. The Leopards dished out 19 assists and got 35 points off the bench. Rebounds were 44-33 in favor of Wentworth.

THE SERIES

• Tonight was the 52^nd all-time meeting between the teams.

NEXT UP

• The Leopards host New England College on Thursday.

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