The Cougars, trailing 37-31 to start the second half, went on an 8-2 run to even the score at 39-39. The last 17 minutes of the game featured 10 ties. Clark led by four points with 6:13 to play in the game after a three-pointer by Clark freshman Byron Roberts (New Haven, Conn./Career) that barely hit the night. Ryan Flynn’s (Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham), a WPI senior, converted a traditional three-point play with 5:16 to play that tied the scored at 55. Both teams would trade baskets the remainder of the game, turning the game into a thriller. With the game tied at 61-61 at the 1:50 mark, Clark’s DJ Brinn (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) drained a three-pointer from the corner to give the Cougars a three-point advantage. Sophomore James Marois (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) answered for WPI with his fourth three of the game to tie game with 1:38 to play.
Sophomore Antione Coleman (Everett, Mass./Evertt) gave the Engineers the lead for good after two straight free throws and senior Brett Dickson (Bedford, Mass./Manchester West) converted two free throws of his own to push WPI’s lead to four. Clark’s sophomore Dominque Beck (Brockton, Mass./Dean Junior College) drained two free throws after a WPI foul to cut the lead to two with 35 seconds left. Marois pushed the Engineers lead back to four with two free throws with less than 30 seconds to go in the game but senior Tim Dutille (Sunapee, N.H./Lebanon) cut the deficit down to one after a three-point play with 23 seconds left. Junior Godfrey Duncan (Dorcester, Mass./Roxbury Community College) grabbed a Coleman miss to give Clark a chance for the win but Flynn stole the ball from Roberts with four seconds remaining. Dickinson made one of two free throws with three seconds to play in the game and Beck’s half-court shot for the win hit the front of the rim as time expired.
Marois finished the game with a game-high 24 points. He was 4-for-5 from long range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line. Junior Ryan Cain (Webster, Mass./St. John’s) added 19 points for the Engineers while Coleman chipped in nine points and five rebounds.
Dutille scored a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds to record a double-double. Beck ended the game with 16 points and six rebounds while Brinn chipped in eight points, 2-for-4 from long range.
The Cougars are back in action when they travel to non-conference opponent Nichols College on Thursday, January 26 for an 8:00 pm start. WPI will host Babson at 2pm on Saturday.
Release courtesy Clark Sports Information
Newspaper Box Score WPI vs Clark University 1/24/06 7:30pm at Worcester, MA At Worcester, MA WPI 71, CLARK UNIVERSITY 69 WPI (16-1, 5-1) James Marois 8-16 4-4 24; Ryan Cain 6-13 5-6 19; Antoine Coleman 3-14 2-2 9; Ryan Flynn 3-5 1-1 7; Ryan Bourque 1-3 4-6 6; Brian Steele 1-4 1-1 3; Brett Dickson 0-1 3-4 3; Sean Ivey 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Prestileo 0-1 0-0 0; Steve Furber 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 20-24 71. CLARK UNIVERSITY (8-9, 3-3) Tim Dutille 6-15 9-11 21; Dominique Beck 6-11 4-4 16; DJ Brinn 3-5 0-0 8; Cory Szklarz 3-5 0-0 7; Pat Landers 0-1 6-6 6; Byron Roberts 2-8 0-0 5; Alfred Thomas 2-4 0-0 4; Peter Normandin 1-2 0-0 2; Gervais Barger 0-0 0-0 0; Godfrey Duncan 0-1 0-0 0; Asher Cowan 0-3 0-0 0; Pat Ochoa 0-1 0-0 0; Salvatore DeMarco 0-0 0-0 0; Brian MacDonald 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 19-21 69. WPI........................... 37 34 - 71 Clark University.............. 31 38 - 69 3-point goals-WPI 7-17 (James Marois 4-5; Ryan Cain 2-4; Antoine Coleman 1-4; Brian Steele 0-1; Mike Prestileo 0-1; Steve Furber 0-2), Clark University 4-16 (DJ Brinn 2-4; Byron Roberts 1-6; Cory Szklarz 1-1; Alfred Thomas 0-1; Asher Cowan 0-2; Pat Ochoa 0-1; Tim Dutille 0-1). Fouled out--WPI-None, Clark University-None. Rebounds-WPI 34 (Ryan Bourque 6; James Marois 6), Clark University 40 (Tim Dutille 11). Assists-WPI 10 (Brian Steele 3; Ryan Flynn 3), Clark University 12 (Dominique Beck 3; Byron Roberts 3). Total fouls-WPI 16, Clark University 20. A-1500