Coast Guard used a strong defensive effort in the second half. Trailing 26-24 at intermission, the Bears forced 10 second-half turnovers and held WPI to 4-of-17 shooting from the floor for the first 16 minutes of the second stanza. Coast Guard led 49-36 with four minutes remaining, only to see WPI chip the margin to seven with six straight points. The Bears canned 10-of-13 free throws in the final 93 seconds to secure the win.
In addition to Craig Johnson’s 14 points, Al Sowers (Monrovia, MD) and Grant Johnson (Grayson, GA) also reached double figure for the Bears with 12 and 10 points respectively. Coast Guard, the nations top rebounding team in the NCAA (all divisions), outrebounded the Engineers 40-32 on the glass. Sowers and Dan Sheppard (El Cajon, CA) each dished out five assists for the Bears, who as a team amassed 18 assists on 21 made field goals.
James Marois (Worcester, MA) tallied a game-high 13 points for WPI while Sean Ivey (Columbia, MD) added nine points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks. Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA) grabbed eight boards for the Engineers, who have now dropped two straight games for the first time in nearly a year.
Both squads return to action on Tuesday at 7:30pm. WPI plays host to Springfield on “Senior Night while Coast Guard travels to Wheaton.
Newspaper Box Score Coast Guard vs WPI 2/10/06 3:00pm at Worcester, MA At Worcester, MA COAST GUARD 60, WPI 48 COAST GUARD (15-6, 6-4) Craig Johnson 6-13 2-3 14; Al Sowers 4-8 3-4 12; Grant Johnson 2-6 4-6 10; Jeff Prebeck 3-8 3-6 9; Dan Sheppard 4-7 1-1 9; Ryan Burgess 1-4 0-0 3; H.B. Baker 1-2 0-0 3; Steve Blum 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 13-20 60. WPI (19-3, 8-3) James Marois 5-12 1-1 13; Sean Ivey 3-4 3-3 9; Ryan Cain 2-9 0-0 5; Ryan Flynn 2-9 0-0 5; Antoine Coleman 1-9 0-0 3; Brett Dickson 1-3 0-0 3; Steve Furber 1-1 0-0 2; Adam Lirette 1-1 0-0 2; Mike Prestileo 1-3 0-0 2; Ryan Bourque 1-2 0-0 2; Brian Steele 1-4 0-0 2; Nathan Griggs 0-1 0-0 0; Kyle Gustafson 0-0 0-0 0; Matthew McCarthy 0-2 0-0 0; NT Izuchi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 4-4 48. Coast Guard................... 24 36 - 60 WPI........................... 26 22 - 48 3-point goals-Coast Guard 5-14 (Grant Johnson 2-5; Al Sowers 1-4; H.B. Baker 1-2; Ryan Burgess 1-2; Jeff Prebeck 0-1), WPI 6-20 (James Marois 2-7; Brett Dickson 1-1; Ryan Flynn 1-3; Antoine Coleman 1-3; Ryan Cain 1-3; Brian Steele 0-2; Mike Prestileo 0-1). Fouled out--Coast Guard-None, WPI-Ryan Flynn. Rebounds-Coast Guard 40 (Craig Johnson 18), WPI 32 (Antoine Coleman 8). Assists-Coast Guard 14 (Al Sowers 5; Dan Sheppard 5), WPI 10 (Ryan Cain 3). Total fouls-Coast Guard 14, WPI 19. A-350