FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Senior guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) connected on 13-of-23 field goals, including 5-for-11 from behind the three-point arc to tie a school record with 36 points as the Wentworth men’s basketball team (4-1) held on to win its fourth consecutive game, 91-89, over Framingham State (3-5) in a non-league contest played at Framingham State.
Prezzie-Blue opened the game with a layup 24 seconds into the tilt, and, after the Rams tied it on a dunk by senior forward Rob Scarpato (Hopkinton, Mass.), junior forward Weonard Bynes (Bridgeport, Conn.) gave the Leopards the lead for good with a basket of his own.
Wentworth, which shot a blistering 72.4 (21-for-29) percent in the opening half, used Bynes’ basket to start an 11-2 run and take a 15-4 lead with 14:35 left on a basket by sophomore forward Shane West (Saco, Maine). However, the hosts would not back down and used a 9-0 run over the next 1:57 to trim the lead to a pair (15-13), thanks in part to five points from junior guard Darius Yarrell (Brockton, Mass.). One of two free throws from junior guard Brad Bryant (Livermore, Maine), followed by a Bynes put back pushed the lead to five and a three-pointer by sophomore forward Matt Abbott (Falmouth, Mass.) gave Wentworth a 21-13 lead.
The Rams would cut the lead to as few as seven with 10:05 left, but the Leopards went on an 8-1 run—with six of the points coming off Prezzie-Blue trifectas—to bring the lead back to 14. Wentworth would have its largest lead of the half at 42-26 on a fast break layup by Prezzie-Blue, but a 9-2 Framingham run, keyed by seven points from freshman guard Michael Hines (Boston, Mass.), brought the lead back to seven (44-37) with 2:25 left.
Hines’ basket would be the final points for the Rams of the half as Wentworth closed out the first 20:00 with a 6-0 spurt, capped off by a Bynes dunk with 10 seconds left, to take a 50-37 lead into the locker room.
Framingham would chip away at Wentworth’s lead and used a 13-3 run to cut the lead from 14 to four with 14:49 remaining, thanks to seven points from sophomore forward Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.). However, Prezzie-Blue stopped the bleeding with another long-range shot that started a 10-2 run, which was capped off by a Bynes dunk with 11:57 left.
The two teams went back and forth over the next 9:47, with Wentworth re-gaining a double-digit lead with 2:10 left on a free throw by West. Almodovar would bury a three with 1:38 left to cut the lead to seven before Bryant hit one of two free throws to give the Leopards an 84-76 lead with 1:24 left.
After Hines and West each traded a pair of free throws, Hines would convert a layup with 1:01 left to cut the lead to 86-80. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Wentworth committed a turnover, which led to a layup by freshman guard Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass.) with 52 seconds left. The Leopards threw the ball away on the next inbounds play and sophomore guard Bill Carey (Abington, Mass.) brought the Rams to within a pair (86-84) with 47.4 seconds left.
On Wentworth’s next possession, Prezzie-Blue missed a jumper, but Bryant got the rebound and was fouled. He proceeded to drain both free throws to push the lead back to four with 40 ticks left. The Rams used a basket from senior guard Michael Costa (Holbrook, Mass.) to get back within two with 31 seconds left.
Prezzie-Blue was subsequently fouled and hit both free throws to give the Leopards a 90-86 lead with 31 seconds to go. However, on the next possession, Almodovar converted a three-point play to bring the Rams within one. With 9.2 seconds remaining, Bryant was fouled. After missing the first shot, he gave Wentworth a 91-89 lead by making his second.
Needing a pair to tie the game, Costa put up a jumper from the right side with five seconds left. His shot was off the mark and Carey was able to get the rebound and put up an attempt that would not fall as time expired.
Prezzie-Blue ties a record held by former two-time Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year Ludger Bain, who achieved the 36-point mark twice; first against New England College on Jan. 23, 1995, and then in the 1997 CCC title game at Eastern Nazarene (Mar. 1, 1997). In addition to Prezzie-Blue and Bynes, West finished the game with 17 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks, while Bryant chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.
For Framingham State, Almodovar shot 11-for-19 from the floor to finish with 28 points, to go along with six rebounds and four steals. Hines added 17 in a losing effort.
Both teams are back in action Thursday night. Wentworth travels to the Coast Guard Academy for a 5:30 tip-off, while Framingham State hosts Anna Maria at 7:30 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Wentworth vs Framingham State 12/04/07 5:30 pm at Framingham, Mass. (Athletic Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wentworth 4-1 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........... * 1-6 0-2 2-2 1 6 7 2 4 5 3 0 1 24 20 Brad Bryant......... * 2-7 1-3 5-8 2 3 5 1 10 2 3 0 1 34 42 Weonard Bynes....... * 10-11 0-0 0-0 4 4 8 3 20 3 3 1 1 30 44 Sherrad Prezzie-Blue * 13-23 5-11 5-7 2 1 3 2 36 2 1 2 3 37 52 Shane West.......... * 6-12 0-0 5-8 7 2 9 4 17 1 3 3 0 36 11 Kevin Wentworth..... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 7 23 Matt Abbott......... 1-6 1-2 1-4 1 3 4 3 4 2 1 0 0 14 30 Keenan Burke-Pitts.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 32 Pat LaCasse......... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 4 4 1 0 2 0 0 0 14 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 33-69 7-20 18-29 19 26 45 19 91 19 15 6 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 21-29 72.4% 2nd Half: 12-40 30.0% Game: 47.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 35.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 15-23 65.2% Game: 62.1% 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Framingham State 3-5 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 12 Michael Costa....... * 2-7 0-0 1-3 1 5 6 4 5 6 6 0 1 32 21 Rob Scarpato........ * 3-6 0-0 2-6 2 2 4 3 8 0 0 0 0 20 22 Josue Almodovar..... * 11-19 1-1 5-7 3 3 6 3 28 3 0 2 4 32 24 Bill Carey.......... * 5-11 1-2 0-0 2 2 4 3 11 3 1 1 0 27 33 Michael Hines....... * 7-14 1-3 2-2 2 2 4 1 17 2 2 1 1 32 11 Michael Tanglis..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 13 Royce Veal.......... 5-9 0-1 1-2 1 1 2 2 11 1 0 0 2 17 20 Anthony Smith....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 25 Jeremy Dabush....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 31 Darius Yarrell...... 2-3 1-1 2-3 0 0 0 1 7 0 2 0 0 8 32 James Molyneaux..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 8 44 Robert Kindell...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 2 0 1 0 0 16 TEAM................ 6 4 10 Totals.............. 36-77 4-11 13-23 19 21 40 22 89 16 12 7 8 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-37 43.2% 2nd Half: 20-40 50.0% Game: 46.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 36.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 10-19 52.6% Game: 56.5% 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Joe Smoot, Rich Collins, Mike Miller Technical fouls: Wentworth-TEAM. Framingham State-None. Attendance: 150 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wentworth..................... 50 41 - 91 Framingham State.............. 37 52 - 89 Senior guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) tied a school record with 36 points. Points in the paint-WIT 44,FRAM 50. Points off turnovers-WIT 18,FRAM 22. 2nd chance points-WIT 11,FRAM 19. Fast break points-WIT 8,FRAM 10. Bench points-WIT 4,FRAM 20. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-WIT 2nd-03:08, FRAM 2nd-00:13. Largest lead-WIT by 16 1st-05:14, FRAM None.