Box Score Babson Park, Mass. - February 28, 2015 - Junior Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and drilled a huge three-pointer with 36 seconds remaining as third-seeded Springfield College defeated second-seeded WPI, 51-46, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Staake Gymnasium.
With its fourth straight victory, Springfield (19-7) advances to the conference championship game for the fourth year in a row. WPI, which entered the game ranked 12th in the country in the latest D3Hoops.com National Poll, had its four-game winning streak snapped and falls to 21-5. The marks the second time this season that Springfield has defeated the nationally-ranked Engineers.
Springfield will now take on top-seeded Babson in the NEWMAC championship game on Sunday 1 p.m.
Senior Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) finished scored a game-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists for the Pride. Junior Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) scored nine points and graduate student Tim Swenson (Millbury, Mass.) added seven points and 10 rebounds in the win.
First-year Chris Rodgers (Franklin, Mass.) came off the bench to score 12 points to lead the Engineers. Senior Sam Longwell (Acton, Mass.) finished with 10 points and eight points, while junior Zach Karalis (North Andover, Mass.) chipped in with nine points.
WPI took its biggest lead of the game at 13-9 on a three-pointer by Karalis with 12:19 to play in the first half. Springfield responded with a 13-4 run though, getting six points from Martin and four from Downes to build a 22-19 halftime lead. The Engineers made just two field goals over the final 12 minutes of the first half, and both teams shot under 30 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
The Pride opened the second half with a 12-5 run and took its biggest lead of the game at 34-24 on a three-pointer by Piretra with 12:28 to go in the contest. WPI rallied though, ripping off a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to go in front 37-34 at the 8:04 mark. Karalis started the spurt with a trey and Longwell and Rodgers combined for eight points, including four from the free throw line.
Springfield wasted little time responding as it used a 7-0 run with the game tied at 39-39 to take a lead it would not relinquish. Martin scored back-to-back hoops to make it a four-point game and Downes scored in transition and made the free throw after being fouled to push the lead to 46-39 with 3:41 remaining.
Rodgers followed a layup by Engineers' Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, Mass.) with a three-point play to pull within 46-44 at the 1:05 mark, but Piretra connected on a trey from the left wing with the shot clock winding down to give the Pride a five-point edge with 36 seconds to play.
Springfield shot 34 percent (18-of-53) on the afternoon and held a 26-22 advantage in paint scoring. The Pride also outrebounded the WPI, 42-36. The Engineers shot just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) and went just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc
