(Courtesy of UNE Sports Information)
BIDDEFORD, Maine - Trailing 48-46 with 4:14 to play, the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards went on an 8-0 run to help secure a 54-51 victory over the University of New England Nor’easters in a men’s basketball game played Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center.
After dropping their opening game of the season, the Leopards (3-1) have won three straight. The Nor'easters (2-4) suffered their fourth consecutive setback. The game was not considered a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game; the two teams will play again Feb. 6 in Boston in what will be their league contest.
A jumper by UNE junior Johnnie Jefferson (Dallas, Texas) broke the eighth tie of the game and gave the Nor'easters their final lead (48-46) with 4:14 remaining. From there, the Leopards would control play down the stretch. Sophomore Shane West (Saco, Maine) made 1 of 2 free throws to slice Wentworth's deficit in half, then converted a lay-up with 3:16 on the clock to give the visitors the lead (49-48) for good.
Both teams would miss 3-point attempts on their next possessions before junior Brad Bryant ‘09 (Livermore, Maine) scored from inside with 1:54 left to push the Wentworth lead to 51-48.
UNE missed a free throw and four field goal attempts over its next two possessions, leading to sophomore Matt Abbott (Falmouth, Mass.) and senior Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) making 3 of 4 free throws to give Wentworth a six-point advantage and seal the win. Bryant finished with 14 points and six rebounds for the Leopards. Prezzie-Blue scored 12 points, while West added 11 and a pair of blocked shots.
Wentworth, which saw itself behind 28-22 at intermission, committed 16 of its 23 turnovers in the first half.
Jefferson finished the contest with a team-high 14 points and collared seven boards. Junior Chas Rentrope (Peoria, Ariz.) pitched in with 12 points and classmate Jaykyri Simpson (East Cleburne, Texas) had 10 points, four steals and three assists for UNE, which shot just 31.0 percent (9 of 29) from the floor in the second half and 35.7 percent (5 of 14) from the free throw line for the afternoon.
Wentworth will be looking to make it four straight Tuesday when it heads to Framingham State College for a non-conference match-up (5:30 p.m. start). The Nor'easters will be looking to halt their four-game skid when they play host to Wheelock College at 8:00 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Wentworth vs Univ. of New England 12/01/07 1:00 p.m. at Biddeford, Maine (Campus Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wentworth 3-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 12 Ed Bolton........... * 2-5 0-2 1-1 2 2 4 0 5 3 4 0 1 30 20 Brad Bryant......... * 5-12 1-6 3-4 2 4 6 3 14 3 5 0 2 36 42 Weonard Bynes....... * 1-2 0-0 2-2 2 5 7 5 4 0 3 1 0 20 44 Sherrad Prezzie-Blue * 4-9 2-5 2-2 0 1 1 1 12 3 4 0 1 37 52 Shane West.......... * 5-6 0-0 1-2 0 4 4 3 11 2 2 2 2 28 11 Kevin Wentworth..... 1-6 0-5 1-2 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 0 0 22 23 Matt Abbott......... 1-4 0-0 1-2 1 5 6 3 3 1 2 1 0 17 24 Gil Ward............ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 32 Pat LaCasse......... 0-1 0-0 2-3 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 33 Colin O'Donnell..... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 19-45 3-18 13-19 9 27 36 18 54 12 23 4 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-19 42.1% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 42.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 16.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 68.4% 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Univ. of New England 2-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 00 Jaykyri Simpson..... * 4-8 0-0 2-5 3 2 5 2 10 3 4 0 4 27 04 Steve Belmonte...... * 3-6 0-0 0-1 0 8 8 4 6 2 3 0 2 39 15 Chas Rentrope....... * 6-13 0-1 0-0 2 2 4 4 12 2 4 0 1 34 24 Johnnie Jefferson... * 5-18 2-7 2-2 3 4 7 2 14 2 2 0 2 31 25 Isaac Stickney...... * 3-7 0-0 1-6 1 0 1 3 7 4 2 1 1 40- 03 Matt VanDeusen...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 10 Adam MacDonald...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 12 Franco Foti......... 1-4 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 0 3 0 0 26 TEAM................ 4 2 6 Totals.............. 22-56 2-9 5-14 14 19 33 19 51 13 19 1 10 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 9-29 31.0% Game: 39.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 22.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 35.7% 2,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Jim Young, Brian Martin, Charlie Pray Technical fouls: Wentworth-None. Univ. of New England-None. Attendance: 250 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wentworth..................... 22 32 - 54 Univ. of New England.......... 28 23 - 51 Points in the paint-WIT 26,UNE 34. Points off turnovers-WIT 16,UNE 17. 2nd chance points-WIT 7,UNE 9. Fast break points-WIT 2,UNE 10. Bench points-WIT 8,UNE 2. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-6 times. Last FG-WIT 2nd-01:54, UNE 2nd-00:04. Largest lead-WIT by 6 2nd-00:21, UNE by 6 1st-05:47.