March 1, 2008

Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - Senior Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA) and freshman Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) each had 14 points and senior Jim Marois (Worcester, MA) added 10 points, including the game-winning basket, to lift the top-seeded WPI men's basketball team to a thrilling 60-59 victory over fourth-seeded Babson College in the semifinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament held at Harrington Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, WPI (21-5) advances to its fourth straight conference championship. The Engineers will face the winner of the seventh-seeded Wheaton College/third-seeded Coast Guard Academy game on Sunday at noon. Babson concludes its season at 10-16.

Coleman led WPI with 11 rebounds to notched his fourth double-double of the season and 12th of his career. Junior Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) contributed with a game-high five assists and three steals.

Senior Kyle McDonald (Wethersfield, CT) scored 17 points to pace Babson. Junior Zach Etten (Hollis, NH) had 16 points and eight rebounds, while senior Greg Bush (East Islip, NY) chipped in with 14 points. Senior Chris Bradley (Mount Vernon, NY) finished with a team-best 11 boards.

Trailing by three (55-58), Bush made a basket underneath and was fouled on the play for a one-point game (57-58) with 23.9 ticks on the clock. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Bradley grabbed the rebound and was hacked on the put-back. With 22 seconds remaining, Bradley sank both shots at the charity stripe to give Babson a 59-58 edge.

On the ensuing possession, Marois' powered through traffic on the right wing for the winning lay-up with just 10.1 seconds left to play.

Following a timeout, the Beavers inbounded the ball and raced down the court for a chance at the lead. Babson's Etten, guarded by his brother, fired a three-pointer as time expired, but his shot was off the mark.

A poor shooting first half from both teams led to a combined 19-of-57 (33.3%) mark from the field. WPI, which never trailed in the half, held its largest lead after Kirkland's conventional three-point play at the 4:49 mark. The 5-foot-10 inch guard drove to the basket and hit a lay-up over the outstretched arms of Pat Belniak (Sutton, Mass.) for the hoop and foul to take a 24-16 advantage.

Etten's baseline three-pointer cut the deficit to five (24-19), but his brother answered with a trey of his own to push the Engineers lead back up to eight (27-19) with 4:06 left to play.

However, the Beavers took over down the stretch. The visitors used an 11-4 run fueled by six points from Bush and capped by Etten's trifecta to knot the score at 30-all headed into the break.

WPI shot just 30% from the field, but made 10-of-14 (71.4%) free throw attempts.

The Crimson and Gray opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 36-30 lead, but Babson chipped away at the margin with an 11-3 stretch over the next 4:35 and took its first lead (41-39) of the game on Etten's jumper at 11:06.

WPI made several runs over the final minutes of the game. However, Babson answered each time, until Marois sealed the victory with the game-winning hoop.

NOTE: Release courtesy of Clark SID Dalya Qualls on behalf of WPI.