With the win, WPI improved to 15-1 overall, while Clark fell to 5-12. In conference play, WPI remains a perfect 6-0, while Clark falls to 1-5. WPI now has opened up a two-game lead in the conference standings, as MIT defeated second-place Wheaton at Wheaton tonight to help in widening the gap. Both Wheaton and Springfield sport 4-2 league records following tonight’s action.
It is the second straight year that WPI has begun conference play 6-0. Last year, WPI finished 9-3 in the NEWMAC conference, earning the NEWMAC post-season tournament’s No 1 seed.
Cain, a sophomore guard from Webster, MA, was one of only two WPI players to attain double figures tonight. The other was sophomore center Scott Misiaszek (Old Lyme, CT) with 14 points. Both Cain and Misiaszek had 7 rebounds, team highs. A total of 11 different players scored for WPI. Junior guards Brett Dickson (Bedford, NH) and Mike Prestileo (South Windsor, CT) tallied 8 apiece.
For Clark, sophomore forward Asher Cowan (Petersborough, NH) led with 11 points. He was followed by junior center/forward Tim Dutille (Sunapee, NH) with 10 and freshman forward Pat Landers (Worcester, MA) with 9. Dutille had a game-high 10 rebounds, followed by grad student center/forward Adam Miller (Shrewsbury, MA) with 9.
It was a game that featured plenty of free throws. Clark was 17-of-28, while WPI was 17-of-23, creating plenty of stoppages and making for a long game. Neither team shot that well, WPI .433, Clark .311. Clark had a 39-36 edge off the boards. Turnovers proved to be an important category as the Cougars turned it over 26 times, WPI just 12.
The first half was the more critical of the two tonight. WPI jumped out to leads of 5-0 after 2 minutes, 14-3 after 6 ½ minutes, and 30-12 after 14 ½ minutes.
WPI more or less maintained that margin throughout the remainder of the game. WPI twice led by 20 in the first half -- at 37-17, then 40-20 on a jumper by junior guard Brian Steele
(Whitinsville, MA) as the first half buzzer sounded.
In the second half, WPI pushed the lead to 26 (52-26) with 15:15 to go on two free throws by freshman guard/forward James Marois (Worcester, MA). WPI still led by 23 (59-36) with 9:38 to go following two free throws by junior guard Ryan Flynn (Hamilton, MA). But this is where Clark began a mild run, outscoring WPI 9-1 over the next two minutes even. With 7:38 left, the lead had been whittled to 15 (60-45) on two free throws by Cowan.
But Clark would get no closer as WPI upped the final margin to its largest margin of 26 before game’s end.
Up next, WPI travels to Babson Saturday (Jan. 29) at 2 pm.