01/17/2009
Men's Basketball Falls Short in Battle of NEWMAC Unbeatens

Worcester, MA --- Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) tossed in a career-high 26 points to help propel WPI to a hard-fought 91-82 victory over visiting Clark in a battle of teams with undefeated NEWMAC records on Saturday afternoon. With the win, WPI improves to 12-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play while Clark falls to 9-6 on the season and 3-1 in NEWMAC action.

After taking a 31-25 advantage into the locker room at the break, the Engineers shot a sizzling 70.8% from the floor in the second half en route to registering an eye-popping 60 points in the stanza. Although WPI never trailed in the contest, Clark refused to go away. After the Crimson and Gray scored 20 of 29 points to open the second half, the Cougars whittled away at the lead and closed to within seven points in the final minutes. However, Etten and Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA) helped repel the Clark rally by combining to can four free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure the win.

Five different WPI players reached double figures in scoring. Joining Etten and Kirkland (19 points) was Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT) with 12 points and Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) and NT Izuchi (Boston, MA), with 11 each. Kirkland had a strong all-around game, adding game-bests of five assists, seven steals and two blocks.

Freshman Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, MA) led Clark with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor. Mark Alexander (Providence, RI) chipped in with 22, including an impressive 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, to inch within 15 points of the coveted 1,000-point milestone, while Peter Normandin (Westminster, MA) added 19 points and gobbled up a game-high nine boards.

WPI now joins MIT atop the NEWMAC standings at 3-0. The Cambridge Engineers play tonight at 8:30pm at Springfield in a rare Saturday evening affair.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday at 7pm with NEWMAC home contests. WPI entertains Babson while Clark hosts Wheaton.

Courtesy of WPI Sports Information