Men's Basketball Falls to Coast Guard in the NEWMAC Finals
Antoine Coleman
Coast Guard 82, WPI 66 - NEWMAC Tournament - Championship
Worcester, MA --- Steve Blum (Farmington, CT) equaled his career-high with 19 points to help lift Coast Guard to an 82-66 victory over WPI in the championship game of the NEWMAC Tournament on Sunday afternoon. It marked the second straight year the visiting Bears have defeated the Engineers in the title game.
With the win, Coast Guard earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. The field will be announced at noon on Monday with first round games slated to be played on Thursday and Friday. WPI, who has earned an NCAA bid the last three years, sits on the bubble.
WPI took a 34-31 advantage into the locker room at intermission after a well-played first half that featured eight lead changes and five ties. Coast Guard came out after the break and connected on 9 of its first 13 shots of the floor and used a 13-2 run midway through the second stanza to turn a 48-48 tie with 14 minutes left into a 62-51 advantage just four minutes later.
The Engineers would only get as close as eight the rest of the as the Bears canned 20 of 22 free throw attempts including 18 of 19 in the second half.
Blum, who was 8-of-11 from the floor, was one of four Coast Guard players in double figures. Grant Johnson (Grayson, GA) was outstanding, registering 17 points to go along with game-highs of nine rebounds (all defensive) and seven assists. Al Sowers (Monrovia, MD) added 15 points while freshman Jevon James (St. Thomas, VI) sparked the Bears of the bench with 11. Craig Johnson (Medford, OR) chipped in with a fine all-around effort, collected six points, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a pair of steals.
Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA) paced WPI with a game-high 22 points, including 15 in the first half and seven rebounds. Fellow senior Jim Marois (Worcester, MA) tossed in 12 points while Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA) and Ryan Bourque (Nashua, NH) each added 10. Bourque added to his strong day off the bench by gobbling up a team-best 10 rebounds.
Both teams, who entered the championship tilt with nine-game winning streaks, are now 21-6.