DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior Colin Jonson (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points as the Wentworth men's basketball team picked up its second straight win in a 70-59 triumph over Nichols in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon.
The Leopards (7-4, 3-1 CCC) rattled in 50 percent of their shots and outrebounded the Bison 39-28. Senior Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) netted 12 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists for Wentworth. Junior Ryan Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) and sophomore Matt Langadas (Casco, Maine) each scored 13 points for the Bison.
For Nichols, junior Joe Gallant (Salem, N.H.) registered seven rebounds and three blocks to go along with four points and an assists in 22 minutes of action. Senior Craig Merrick (Ledyard, Conn.) knocked down a pair of three's while classmate Kyle Mascilak (Sparta, N.J.) went for six points and four rebounds.
The Leopards led for all but 2:48 of the first half yet found themselves behind 26-25 entering the locker room. Behind five points from both senior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) and sophomore Nico Donato (Glastonbury, Conn.), Wentworth opened up a 21-14 with 6:17 left in the stanza. Nichols closed the half on a 12-4 run, tying the game on a layup by Sheehan before Merrick knocked down a triple at 1:03 to put it ahead. Johnson and Langadas led their respective teams with seven points apiece. Sheehan – who entered the game as the No. 3 scorer in the nation – was held to four points on 2-of-3 shooting.
Early in the second half, the Bison led by four points on two occasions, the last coming at 17:26. Senior Matt Harte (Troy, N.Y.) tied the game at 40 with a layup at 14:17, then put the Leopards ahead for good with another layup less than a minute later. A basket by Johnson stretched the WIT lead to eight with 8:32 on the clock, and his three-pointer with 6:08 remaining pushed the lead to 59-48.
Nichols answered with seven-straight points to cut its deficit to four behind a layup by Sheehan, a triple by freshman Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) and a layup by Gallant. Therriault responded with a three to push the Leopards lead back to seven, and subsequent buckets by Harte and Therriault gave the visitors a 66-55 lead with 1:38 left.
Harte, Donato and sophomore John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) each finished with eight points while Mayo recorded five assists and four rebounds. Wentworth connected on nearly 50 percent of its attempts from behind the arc (7-of-15) compared to just 30 percent for the Bison (6-of-20).
The Bison return to action on Tuesday with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Endicott. Wentworth heads west to Springfield on Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. game at Western New England.
WENTWORTH 70, NICHOLS 59
WENTWORTH (7-4, 3-1 CCC)
Colin Johnson 7-10 2-3 21; Corey Therriault 5-11 0-3 12; Nico Donato 4-5 0-0 8; Matt Harte 4-7 0-0 8; John-Michael Fragnoli 4-10 0-2 8; Derek Mayo 3-6 1-2 7; Dailon Wilson 2-5 0-0 4; Ray Bessette 1-3 0-0 2; Cam Sennick 0-1 0-0 0; Ian Therriault 0-0 0-0 0; Scott Moran 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-59 3-10 70.
NICHOLS (5-5, 0-3 CCC)
Matt Langadas 3-12 7-8 13; Ryan Sheehan 6-11 1-3 13; Kyle Mascilak 2-6 2-3 6; Craig Merrick 2-6 0-0 6; Christian Horton 2-3 0-0 6; Marlon Bennett 2-3 0-0 5; Joe Gallant 2-4 0-0 4; Sam Horning 1-3 0-0 3; Justin Kuntz 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 21-51 11-16 59.
Wentworth..................... 25 45 - 70
Nichols....................... 26 33 - 59
3-point goals--Wentworth 7-15 (Colin Johnson 5-7; Corey Therriault 2-4; Derek Mayo 0-1; Dailon Wilson 0-1; Ray Bessette 0-1; Scott Moran 0-1), Nichols 6-20 (Christian Horton 2-3; Craig Merrick 2-4; Sam Horning 1-3; Marlon Bennett 1-2; Justin Kuntz 0-1; Ryan Sheehan 0-4; Matt Langadas 0-3). Fouled out--Wentworth-None, Nichols-None. Rebounds--Wentworth 39 (Dailon Wilson 7; Matt Harte 7), Nichols 28 (Ryan Sheehan 7; Joe Gallant 7). Assists--Wentworth 17 (Derek Mayo 5), Nichols 7 (Ryan Sheehan 3). Total fouls--Wentworth 14, Nichols 16. Technical fouls--Wentworth-None, Nichols-None. A-189
