BOX
SCORE
BABSON PARK, Mass. - First-year Fernando Perez (Lowell, Mass.)
led the way with 19 points and 11 rebounds to send WPI past Babson,
72-42, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
(NEWMAC) contest on Saturday afternoon at Staake Gymnasium. The
Engineers are now 20-4 overall, 11-1 in the NEWMAC and Babson drops
to 12-13 over, 4-8 in the NEWMAC.
Having already secured the regular season title and top seed in
the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament, WPI will receive a bye in the first
round and will host the semifinals and final next weekend.
Meanwhile, Babson will find out its opponent for Wednesday night's
opening round when the official tournament field is announced later
this weekend.
With the win, WPI's senior class also set a new conference record
for total victories and winning percentage in their career, as the
Engineers have now posted a spectacular 42-6 mark (.875) in league
play over the last four seasons. It also marks the sixth straight
20-win campaign for WPI.
Saturday also marked the final regular season home game in the
collegiate careers of Babson's four seniors. Over the last
four years, Pat Belniak (Sutton, Mass.),
Norm de Silva (Dartmouth, Mass.), Zach
Etten (Hollis, N.H.), and Tom Shevlin (South
Hadley, Mass.) have led the Beavers to a total of 47
victories, including 16 wins and a second-place finish in the
NEWMAC regular season standings in 2007. Etten led the Beavers with
10 points, five rebounds, and five steals in the last home game of
his career, while sophomore Shelton Ladson (New York,
N.Y.) followed with nine points.
Perez had his first double-double of the season with 19 points
and 11 rebounds. Senior Adam Lirette (Dover, N.H.) tallied 10
points and four rebounds in the win and sophomore Jeffrey Robinson
(Granby, Conn.) added 13 points.
WPI took the early lead and went up by eight with just over 11
minutes to play in the first half, 12-4. Babson then went on a 8-0
run and tied the game 14-14 after a three pointer from Ladson with
6:25 left in the half. The Engineers were able to get the lead back
and entered halftime with the four point lead, 27-23.
Poor second half shooting for Babson sent WPI on a 19-3 run to
start the frame to put the visitors up by 20 points with just under
13 minutes to play. The Beavers came back to score six unanswered
points cutting the lead to 14, 46-32, but WPI quickly answered
back, holding Babson to just 10 points in the final ten minutes
while scoring 26 of their own to end the game with a 72-42 victory.
