Lewis was the story all night. He had 17 in the first half and Nichols continued the pound the ball inside in the second half. Lewis hit 14 of his 16 attempts, went 1-for-1 from the 3-point line, hit four-of-six from the free throw line. The 6-foot-3 forward also had six rebounds and four steals in the win.
Wentworth went up 66-65 on two freebies by senior Frankie Hall (Boston, MA). Lewis grabbed a miss by sophomore Chris Vallee (Ashburnham, Ma) and put up a reverse lay-up for a 67-66 Nichols lead at 1:15 to play. Wentworth missed a 3-point attempt at 1:06 to play and came down court. A short jumper by senior Casey Butler (E. Longmeadow) went long and Lewis was there for an important offensive rebound. Lewis was then fouled and hit two free throws for a 69-66 lead with 25 seconds to play.
Hall attempted a jumper from the baseline but Vallee’s pulled down the board and was fouled. He hit his two freebies to seal a big victory for the Bison.
Vallee finished the game with eight points and four rebounds, while Butler had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Wentworth was led by Bryan Gaine (Braintree, MA) with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, CT) added 12 and seven assists and Todd Doyle (Mystic, CT) had 10 and five assists.
Newspaper Box Score WIT vs NC 1-17-06 8 at Dudley, Ma At Dudley, Ma NC 71, WIT 66 WIT Bryan Gaine 5-11 3-4 13; Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 5-14 0-0 12; Todd Doyle 4-8 1-2 10; Ed Bolton 3-10 0-0 7; Jason DaCosta 3-7 0-3 6; Brad Bryant 2-3 0-0 6; Weonard Bynes 3-4 0-0 6; Frankie Hall 1-6 2-2 4; Vin Milano 1-1 0-0 2; Jeff Cappa 0-1 0-0 0; Rob Fernandes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-66 6-11 66. NC Justin Lewis 14-16 4-6 33; Casey Butler 5-13 0-0 12; Chris Vallee 2-10 3-4 8; Ron Powers 2-4 1-1 5; Jah'maine Mercer 2-6 1-2 5; Jon Costello 2-3 0-0 4; Jermaine Baskerville 1-3 0-0 2; Greg Sturdahl 1-3 0-0 2; Stephen Van Loan 0-1 0-0 0; Scott LaTorra 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 9-13 71. WIT........................... 27 39 - 66 NC............................ 34 37 - 71 3-point goals-WIT 6-19 (Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 2-3; Brad Bryant 2-3; Todd Doyle 1-3; Ed Bolton 1-7; Rob Fernandes 0-1; Jason DaCosta 0-1; Bryan Gaine 0-1), NC 4-14 (Casey Butler 2-5; Chris Vallee 1-2; Justin Lewis 1-1; Jermaine Baskerville 0-2; Greg Sturdahl 0-2; Jah'maine Mercer 0-1; Ron Powers 0-1). Fouled out--WIT-None, NC-None. Rebounds-WIT 36 (Bryan Gaine 7), NC 40 (Casey Butler 12). Assists-WIT 18 (Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 7), NC 17 (Jah'maine Mercer 6). Total fouls-WIT 14, NC 14.