#17 Men's Basketball Suffers First Defeat at Salem State
Bennett Lessard
Salem State 73, WPI 69
Salem, MA --- Senior Dylan Holmes (Groton, MA) scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead the Salem State Vikings past the nationally-ranked WPI Engineers 73-69 in a non-conference game Thursday night.
Holmes, who also added 12 rebounds, shot 10 of 16 from the field as Salem State (5-1) erased a five point deficit at the half to hand WPI (6-1) their first loss of the season. Sophomore Nick Linear (Salem, MA) also contributed off the bench with a season-high 20 points (all of SSC's bench points) and two blocked shots as Salem State remained undefeated at home.
WPI, ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, led 41-36 at the intermission only to be outscored 37-28 in the second half as the Vikings forced 19 turnovers. Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT) led the way with a career-best 21 points and six boards for the Engineers. Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) scored 13 points while Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA) chipped with 11.
The game was tightly contested throughout with neither team enjoying an advantage larger than seven points. Both teams finished with an equal amount of points in the paint (28) and points off turnovers (19), while the Vikings held the slimmest of edges in rebounding (39-36) second chance points (12-11).
The four-year series is now tied at two games apiece with the home team taking each contest. The result snapped WPI's school record tying 14-game regular season winning streak and was the final of five straight games for WPI versus teams that appeared in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
Salem State will return to action on Saturday when they travel to undefeated Gordon. Tip-off is scheduled for 8pm. WPI heads to Fitchburg State Saturday for a 3pm contest.
Release Courtesy Salem State Sports Information