Strong First Half Powers No. 8 WPI Over Emmanuel, 74-62

BOSTON, Mass. - The WPI men’s basketball team built a 12-point halftime lead which proved to be the final margin as the Engineers, ranked No. 8 in the most recent D3hoops.com National Poll, topped host Emmanuel College by a 74-62 final on Sunday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass.

Strong First Half Powers No. 8 WPI Over Emmanuel, 74-62
Program Video Box Score

Team Stats

November 20, 2022

THE BASICS 
No. 8 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 74 vs. Emmanuel College, 62

Records: 
Emmanuel Saints (1-3, 0-0 GNAC)
WPI Engineers (4-0, 0-0 NEWMAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Andy Yosinoff Court

Date: Sunday, November 20, 2022

THE LEAD – The WPI men's basketball team built a 12-point halftime lead which proved to be the final margin as the Engineers, ranked No. 8 in the most recent D3hoops.com National Poll, topped host Emmanuel College by a 74-62 final on Sunday afternoon at the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The squads traded hoops in the early goings as EC senior forward Kendrick Jean-Francois (Lynn, Mass.) tied the score at 9-9 with the Saints third triple to start the action.
  • WPI answered with six straight points to take the lead for good, leading 15-9 following a jumper by senior forward John Lowther (Hingham, Mass.) with 13:34 remaining in the half.
  • The Engineers took their largest lead of the half with 8:33 to play in the opening stanza as sophomore guard Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) drained a pair of free throws to move the score to 29-16.
  • EC sophomore guard Walker Baillargeon (Norwich, Conn.) connected on his second three of the half to get the score back to single digits with 2:18 on the clock in the half but junior guard Andrew Lufkin (Auburn, N.H.) answered with a triple of his own to account for the 43-31 halftime margin.
  • Emmanuel junior guard Bryant Ciccio (Attleboro, Mass.) pulled the Saints to within seven (49-42) with just over 16 minutes remaining but it proved to be the closest the hosts would get as WPI maintained a double-digit lead for much of the evening.
  • The Engineers took their largest lead of the contest with 3:11 left in the action when Callahan buried a deep three to make it 72-56 before Emmanuel closed the game on a 6-2 spurt to account for the 74-62 final score.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • WPI junior guard Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, Calif.) led all scorers with 17 points on a 6-for-9 shooting performance while junior John Adams (Douglas, Mass.) chipped in with 16 points on a 7-of-9 outing from the floor to go along with a game-high nine rebounds.
  • EC junior guard Donte Pope (Middletown, Conn.) led the Saints with 15 points while Jean-Francois was next in scoring with 11.
  • The Saints came into the game leading all NCAA Division III programs in free-throw shooting percentage (42-of-44 for 95.5%) but struggled from the stripe in the loss going just 10-for-20.
  • Callahan and Lowther both finished in double-figures with 13 and 11, respectively.
  • WPI finished the game shooting 57.1% from the field, the highest percentage by an Emmanuel opponent this season.
  • The Saints have never beaten a ranked opponent in the program's 20-year history.

UP NEXT

  • Emmanuel takes on Wesleyan University on Tuesday, November 22, hosting the Cardinals in a 5:00 PM tip before the Thanksgiving break.
  • WPI plays host to Fitchburg State the same night in non-conference action scheduled for 6:00 PM.