Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Trey Carrier amassed a school-record 45 points to fuel ninth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology past No.8 University of New England, 93-73, in the first round of the 2022 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Basketball Championship on Monday evening (Feb. 21) at the Harold Alfond Forum on Coach Beaudry's Court.

The Leopards (10-15) move on to face top-seeded Nichols College in Tuesday's quarterfinals [Interactive Bracket]. The Nor'easters, who had swept the regular-season series from WIT (70-65, and 74-72 just two days earlier), conclude the 2021-22 campaign with a 7-19 ledger.

Carrier nearly matched his previous personal-best in the 1st half alone, with 29 that included 5-of-6 efficiency from downtown. He surpassed the program scoring mark (39 from 2015-16) and single-game field goals made (14 from 2003-04) with his last live-action hoop with 6:31 remaining. In addition to the 45 points, Carrier secured a game-high 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the year.

Tommy Dooling and Tyler Stewart supported Wentworth with 10 and nine points, respectively -- all but two of which came during the initial 20 minutes. Kyle Henseler added nine points and six assists for the visitors, who shot 51 percent (32-for-63) on the night and held a 50-35 rebounding cushion.

For UNE, Alex Kravchuk had a team-high 17 points prior to fouling out in the closing minutes. He wraps his 106-game Nor'easter career with 1,667 points, good for 6th in the combined history of UNE, Westbrook College, and St. Francis College. Beyond the raw scoring production numbers, Kravchuk ranks second in program records free throw percentage (84.8%), fourth in three-point percentage (39.3%), and eighth in total steals (177).

Drake Gavin tallied 13 of his 16 points following the break, and grabbed nine boards for the hosts. Anthony Senesombath registered 13 points and picked up five steals.

After the fifth lead-change in the opening six minutes, a Ray Evans triple brought UNE into a tie at 13-all. Dooling then netted five in a 9-0 spurt which began Wentworth's separation. The last nine of the period also went for the Leopards, with treys from Dooling, Carrier, and Carrier just before the buzzer from a little longer range. The spread had ballooned to 56-24 at intermission, with WIT hitting 22-of-37 from the floor and eight three-pointers. The visitors backed up the hot shooting performance with a 15-0 margin in points off [10 UNE] turnovers.

The Nor'easters made some noise at the start of the 2nd, as seven different players scored over the first five minutes to assemble a 17-5 run, reducing the gap to 20 (61-41). Another seven in-a-row got the deficit down to 17 (67-50) at the 11:08 mark, and it was there again (72-55) with 8:04 on the clock, but Wentworth otherwise survived the storm.

UNE's defensive pressure (12 steals) forced the Leopards into 15 2nd-half turnovers, but only 10 points came from those lost WIT possessions. The Nor'easters took 22 more field goal attempts than their opponent in the final stanza, however continued to connect right around their game accuracy of 31 percent.