News Release

Worcester, MA — WPI Defeats Clark 79-67 In Cross-Town NEWMAC Action

In a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest between cross-town rivals, the WPI Engineers defeated the Clark University Cougars 79-67. WPI jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes but Clark answered with a 14-0 run behind sophomore Asher Cowan’s (Petersborough, NH/Cushing Academy) three straight three-pointers and took a 14-6 lead. The Engineers tied the game with 7:20 to play at 21-21 and never trailed the rest of the game taking a 32-27 lead into the locker room. WPI pushed the lead to 19-points with a 16-5 run to start the second stanza and led as many 22 points with less than 12 minutes to play. Trailing by 16 points with 4:12 to play, the young Cougars clawed back and cut the lead to nine on a three-pointer by sophomore Cory Szklarz (Worcester, MA/St. Peter Marian) with 57 seconds left. WPI converted three straight free-throws, two by sophomore Ryan Cain (Webster, MA/St. John’s) to seal the victory. Cain ended the game with a game-high 22 points including 4-for-5 from long range. He was 6-for-6 from the line. Junior Brian Steele (Whitinsville, MA/Northbridge) matched Cain with 22 points and he added four rebounds. He was 7-for-11 from the floor including 4-for-5 from long range and 4-for-4 from the line. Clark’s junior Tim Dutille (Sunapee, NH/Lebanon) had a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Szklarz ended the game with 19 points and four rebounds. He was 7-for-9 from the line. First-year Pat Landers (Worcester, MA/St. John’s) added 11 points and three rebounds off the bench for Clark. The Cougars fell to 3-8 overall and 0-2 in the conference. WPI, who improved to 10-1 and 1-0 in the NEWMAC, shot an impressive 62.5 percent from long range (10-for-16) and 90.5 percent from the line (19-for-21). Clark is back in action against conference rival Babson College on Tuesday, January 11. Game time is set for 8:00 pm at the Kneller Athletic Center.