WESTON, Mass. – Senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds while sophomore Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) had a career-high 21 points as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team defeated Emmanuel, 83-72, in the third place game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Greater Boston Shootout, hosted by Regis College.
With the win the Leopards improve to 1-1 on the season while the Saints fall to 0-2.
The Leopards opened the game on a 26-7 run with Knollmeyer draining three 3-pointers and Romich adding five points during the opening run.
Wentworth's largest lead of the half would come with 5:48 left after freshman Erich Ryan (Wrentham, Mass.) converted an old fashioned three-point play to make it 36-16. Emmanuel used a 9-4 spurt to make it a 40-25 game with 4:08 left after sophomore Colin Cordero (Bolton, Conn.) hit a jumper, capping off four straight points for him.
The Leopards upped their lead to 17 (40-23) on a pair of sophomore Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) free throws with 4:21 left and would lead by 14 (45-31) at the break.
Neither team scored in the first 2:04 of the second half until senior Ian Therriault (Auburn, Maine) changed that with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 17. Emmanuel scored the next five points to make it a 12-point (48-36) game with 16:20 left before sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) drained a three to push the lead to 15.
A jumper by junior Julian Diggs (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and a three-point play from senior Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) made it 51-41, and, after the teams traded free throws, Romich drained a three to make it 56-42 with just under 10 minutes left.
Four straight Saint points cut the lead back to 10, however Knollmeyer ended the run with a 3-pointer of his own and Kizel hit one of two free throws to push the lead back to 14. Davis would score six straight points to make it 60-52 with 5:52 left.
After Knollmeyer hit two free throws and Davis put in a putback to make it an eight-point contest, Romich and Ganley hit back-to-back shots from behind the arc, making it a 14-point game with 4:41 left.
With Wentworth holding a 14-point lead, junior Kyle Smith (Los Angeles, Calif.) hit back-to-back threes to make it 78-68 with 1:26 left. However, that would be as close as the Saints would come as the Leopards hit five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Kizel chipped in with 13 points while Ganley and Therriault added eight apiece. Kizel and Knollmeyer also had six rebounds to help the Black & Gold finish the game with a 49-37 rebounding edge.
Smith led Emmanuel with 21 points followed by Davis with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Wentworth plays at Division I Northeastern on Tuesday night.
