BROOKILINE, Mass. – Senior guard Ivan DaSilva (New Bedford, Mass.) hit one of two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation to snap a 67-all tie and lift Newbury (15-7) to a 68-67 win over Wentworth (12-9) in a non-conference contest played at Hellenic College.
DaSilva’s heroics would come just seconds after Leopard senior guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) converted a three-point play to tie the game at 67 with four ticks to play in the period.
An evenly played first half saw five ties and 11 lead changes. Newbury’s largest lead of the half came when sophomore forward Javon Mathis (West Hartford, Conn.) and senior guard Arch Mitchell (Framingham, Mass.) hit consecutive baskets to extend a one-point lead to five (20-15) midway through the period.
Wentworth quickly responded with a 7-0 run over the next 2:50, keyed by five points from junior guard Todd Doyle (Mystic, Conn.), to take a 22-20 lead with 7:57 left. The lead would not last long, though, as senior guard Steven Morris (Somerville, Mass.) drained a three on the next possession to put the hosts back up by a pair.
Trailing 31-28 with 3:40 left, junior forward Weonard Bynes (Bridgeport, Conn.), Prezzie-Blue, and junior guard Brad Bryant (Livermore, Maine) scored consecutive baskets to give Wentworth a 34-31 lead with 2:20 to play. The Nighthawks scored the final four points of the half and took a 35-34 lead into the locker room. Over the first 20:00, Newbury shot 55.2 percent.
The Nighthawks continued their run that closed the half an opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game (43-36) with 16:55 remaining in the contest. The next 4:21 saw a Doyle and Prezzie-Blue combine for a 9-2 Leopard spurt with Prezzie-Blue tying the game at 45 on a pair of free throws. During the run Wentworth was 7-for-7 from the foul line, with Doyle going 5-for-5.
With the score tied at 51-all at the 10:00 mark of the half, sophomore forward Shane West (Saco, Maine) scored three of Wentworth’s next four points and gave the Leopards a 55-51 lead. However, Mitchell converted a three-point play, and on Newbury’s next possession, scored to go up 56-55. A West layup and Prezzie-Blue three pointer put the Leopards up by four.
Newbury junior forward Kevin Cleveland (Lynn, Mass.) trimmed the lead to three with a free throw before Doyle hit two more free throws to up the lead to five (62-57) with 6:03 left. The lead would evaporate quickly as DaSilva hit a three and Cleveland a jumper to force the ninth tie of the game, and Mathis’ layup with 3:52 left gave the Nighthawks a 64-62 lead.
Doyle would hit a layup with 1:51 left, and off of a turnover and a missed shot, the Leopards had a pair of chances to take the lead, but could not convert. With 22 ticks left, Morris put Newbury up 67-64 with a three pointer of his own, setting the stage for Prezzie-Blue to drive to the hoop for the layup and get fouled with a chance to tie the game. The 11th tie of the night came when Prezzie-Blue swished the free throw.
With overtime seeming like a possibility, DaSilva was fouled with 0.7 left as he tried to win it for the hosts. His second shot missed, but Wentworth’s desperation shot fell short.
Mitchell led all scorers with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, as all five Nighthawks checked in with double figures. Mathis scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while DaSilva added 13 of his own. Cleveland and Morris tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Prezzie-Blue and Doyle each had 16 points for the Leopards, who saw their two-game win streak come to an end. Prezzie-Blue also reached a pair of milestones in the game. His second half three pointer made him the program’s all-time leader in three pointers with 186, surpassing the mark of 185, which was held by David Iannotti, while he also became just the fifth player to play in 100 or more games in his career. Doyle was a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, while Bynes added seven points and eight rebounds.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday. Newbury, which has now won six straight games, has its final home game of the season against Mitchell at Noon, while Wentworth returns to The Commonwealth Coast Conference play with a 3:00 p.m. contest against Curry in a rematch of last season’s conference championship game, won by Wentworth, 98-90.
Official Basketball Box Score Wentworth vs Newbury 02/14/08 7:00 p.m. at Brookline, Mass. (Hellenic College) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wentworth 12-9 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........... * 1-7 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 2 1 0 2 27 14 Todd Doyle.......... * 4-12 1-4 7-7 1 2 3 0 16 3 0 0 2 22 42 Weonard Bynes....... * 3-6 0-0 1-2 2 6 8 1 7 1 1 1 0 27 44 Sherrad Prezzie-Blue * 6-15 1-6 3-3 2 0 2 4 16 2 4 0 1 37 52 Shane West.......... * 2-6 0-0 1-2 5 4 9 2 5 3 4 0 1 35 11 Kevin Wentworth..... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 0 6 20 Brad Bryant......... 1-2 0-1 4-4 0 2 2 0 6 0 2 0 1 23 23 Matt Abbott......... 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 1 2 2 5 0 1 0 0 10 24 Gil Ward............ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 32 Pat LaCasse......... 2-3 1-2 2-2 0 2 2 4 7 0 0 0 0 7 TEAM................ 4 4 Totals.............. 22-58 5-19 18-20 15 19 34 13 67 12 13 2 7 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 9-28 32.1% Game: 37.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 26.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 13-14 92.9% Game: 90.0% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Newbury 15-7 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Kevin Cleveland..... * 5-8 0-0 1-2 4 2 6 4 11 4 2 1 2 20 30 Javon Mathis........ * 6-10 0-0 1-3 5 5 10 2 13 2 3 1 1 36 32 Steven Morris....... * 4-12 2-7 0-0 1 1 2 1 10 4 5 0 2 40 33 Arch Mitchell....... * 8-17 0-4 1-1 2 5 7 2 17 1 2 0 1 40 4 Ivan DaSilva........ * 5-8 1-2 2-5 1 4 5 3 13 5 0 1 5 37 42 John Rowley......... 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 4 2 1 1 0 0 10 53 Paul Beckford....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 17 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 30-57 3-13 5-13 14 22 36 17 68 17 13 3 11 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-29 55.2% 2nd Half: 14-28 50.0% Game: 52.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 23.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 38.5% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Joe Rogers, John Glazebrook, Steve Cassel Technical fouls: Wentworth-None. Newbury-None. Attendance: 102 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wentworth..................... 34 33 - 67 Newbury....................... 35 33 - 68 Points in the paint-WIT 24,NEWMBB 40. Points off turnovers-WIT 19,NEWMBB 10. 2nd chance points-WIT 12,NEWMBB 16. Fast break points-WIT 4,NEWMBB 4. Bench points-WIT 21,NEWMBB 4. Score tied-11 times. Lead changed-15 times. Last FG-WIT 2nd-00:06, NEWMBB 2nd-00:22. Largest lead-WIT by 5 2nd-06:03, NEWMBB by 7 2nd-16:55.