NEWPORT, R.I. – Junior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points – including scoring 22 of his team's 27 points in the first half – as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team picked up its second straight win with a 64-58 triumph over Salve Regina University in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at the Rodgers Recreation Center.
Winners of four of their last five contests, the Leopards climb over .500 to stand at 8-7 overall and sit in a three-way tie for first place in the CCC (6-2) as the first half of conference play winds down. The Seahawks fall to 5-10 (2-6).
The Leopards found themselves down eight (10-2) after going a stretch of 5:32 without a point. That stretch ended when DeVaux connected on his first three of the day with 13:38 remaining. DeVaux then scored Wentworth's next 19 points, the last coming on a three pointer with 1:49 left to make it a 28-26 contest. After junior Nichols Bates (Danvers, Mass.) made a layup with 1:44 left, sophomore Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) hit one of two free throws to make it 30-27 in favor of Salve Regina at the break.
DeVaux's 22 first-half points came on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor which included going 5-for-6 from behind the arc. He also had four of the team's nine first-half rebounds. Senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) and sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) each had two points and Kizel had one through the first 20 minutes.
Romich opened the second half by draining a three to tie the game at 30-all. The Seahawks scored the next five points and took a 35-30 lead with 19:05 left but Romich answered with a three which ignited an 8-0 run and gave Wentworth a 38-35 lead with 15:31 left after DeVaux hit another shot from behind the arc.
After Bates brought Salve Regina within one, Wentworth used a second 8-0 run to take a nine-point lead (46-37) with sophomore Sam Konllmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) scoring four points during that stretch. Bates scored his team's next six points to make it 46-43 with 7:05 left and the Seahawks would pull with three on two other occasions, including when junior Connor Costello (Southborough, Mass.) converted a layup with 1:23 left.
That would be as close as the hosts would come as the Black & Gold used four straight points from Romich to push the lead to seven and would pull out the six-point win.
DeVaux was 10-for-18 from the floor (5-for-10 from behind the arc) with seven rebounds and three steals. Romich finished with 19 points, while Ganley and Knollmeyer had eight and seven points, respectively.
Bates scored 20 points for Salve Regina to go along with 11 rebounds while sophomore Bryce Boggs (Hyde Park, Mass.) added 12 points. The Seahawks had a 41-27 rebounding advantage for the game.
Wentworth hosts Gordon on Tuesday. That same night Salve Regina is at Nichols.
