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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Sparked by three-pointers from Nathan Brinkman and Jack Connell, Wentworth Institute of Technology finished with 11 of the last 16 to come away with an 89-85 result against the University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum on Wednesday night (Jan. 31).

Brinkman's step-back trey with 1:32 to go marked the 10th lead-change of the 2nd half, giving the Leopards an 81-80 edge. A steal by Connell on one end wound up in a triple of his own on the other (1:07), but Adrian Torres responded from deep on UNE's next trip (84-83) to keep the hosts close [Watch]. Two freebies by Connell were matched by an Adam Lux layup (86-85) with 25 seconds remaining, leaving the Nor'easters needing to foul to get the ball back. After a timeout, Brinkman missed his first free throw and made the second (87-85).

UNE had a sideline out-of-bounds with 14.2 on the clock, but the ensuing dribble clipped a heel and bounced off into the backcourt where it was recovered by Wentworth, before another foul. Nathaniel Smith hit both chances for his only two points of the evening to all but seal it with 6.3 seconds to go.

Three weeks earlier, the Leopards (10-10, 5-6 CCC) had recorded the final six points at home to clip the Nor'easters (5-15, 0-12) by one.

Tyler Stewart was dominant inside for Wentworth, posting 32 points on 13-of-16 accuracy from the field and 6-for-7 shooting at the line. He also had a game-high 12 rebounds. Connell tossed in 22 points, while Brinkman ended at 12 points, six boards, and five assists. Sam Goy recorded nine points with 11 caroms.

For UNE, Jack Pyzynski topped the squad with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, to go with five assists. Kha Cao Ra James had the best offensive night of his rookie campaign, notching 16 points, and Lux totaled 15. Zach Boulay, Torres, and Kyle Lombardi went for 11, nine, and seven points, respectively.

The Leopards out-scored the hosts at the charity stripe by a 16-1 margin, while the Nor'easters had a nine-point cushion scoring behind the arc (36-27). WIT was narrowly better in field goal efficiency, knocking down 51 percent (32-of-63).

Deadlocked at 45-45 coming out of the halftime break, a hoop by Lux was countered by five straight from Stewart (WIT 50-47). Back and forth they went, as four from James started eight in-a-row to put UNE ahead (55-50) [Watch 55], only to see Brinkman have five in a 10-2 stretch that gave the edge to Wentworth (60-57). Over the next six minutes, the Nor'easters constructed the largest spread of the contest (70-62) with a 13-2 span that included five apiece from Pyzynski [Watch 60] and Lombardi [Watch 70].

Stewart tallied the next seven to bring the Leopards back, and the deficit was 74-70 when Goy and Connell canned back-to-back three-pointers for a 76-74 lead with 4:30 left to play. However, treys by Torres [Watch] and Jayden Thornton [Watch], around a Stewart basket, flipped the advantage to the UNE side (80-78).

In the 1st period, Stewart and Connell combined for 27 while Pyzynski and Boulay each generated 11 points. The difference on the scoreboard shifted between five in favor of UNE (12-7, 14-9) and six for WIT (22-16, 24-18, 27-21, 42-36), but there was no separation through 20 minutes.

Next up for the Nor'easters is a road trip to league-leading Nichols College on Saturday.