#14 WPI Surges Past Fitchburg State, 88-53

Ingram-Rubin leads Falcons offense with a team-best 13 points

WORCESTER, Mass. (December 7, 2013) – Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) scored 10 points in the opening 3:13 to  spearhead a 20-0 run to start the game as host WPI defeated Fitchburg State 88-53 Saturday afternoon in non-conference men's basketball action.

WPI, ranked No. 14 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, has now won a season-best four consecutive games and is 7-1 on the season.  The triumph was the Crimson and Gray's 22nd straight victory in Harrington Auditorium.  Fitchburg State in now 0-7 overall.

Davis, who had nailed a buzzer-beater last season to help the Engineers stun the Falcons on the road for win 10 en route to a 22-0 start, wasted no time in making his presence felt Saturday.  He scored a lay-up off the opening tap and added 3-pointers on the Crimson and Gray's next two possessions.  

The WPI defense forced the Falcons to miss their first eight field goal attempts and harassed the visitors into three turnovers during the game-opening spurt.  During the same time, the Engineers drained 6-of-8 shots, only committed one turnover and enjoyed a 9-5 edge on the glass.

Davis finished with 10 points and six assists.  Ryan Kolb (Southington, CT) paced all scorers with 16 points while Chad LaBove (Shrewsbury, MA) pulled off the rare feat of grabbing a career-best 15 rebounds without scoring a point. 

Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, MA) and Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) each tossed in 11 points while Marcus Middleton (Stoughton, MA) notched nine points to go along with four assists.  As a team, the Engineers doled out 26 assists on 35 made field goals.

LaBove's efforts on the glass highlighted a 54-33 WPI advantage in rebounds, 40-20 bulge in points in the paint and a 16-8 edge in second chance points. 

Mike Ingram-Rubin (Boston, MA) led the Fitchburg State charge with 13 points while Josh Imadiyi (Lynn, MA) chipped in with his fifth double-double of the young season (11 points and 10 rebounds).  Lincoln Wright (Brockton, MA) sparked the Falcons with nine points off the bench.  After being down 20-0 just 5:29 into the contest, Fitchburg State settled in nicely, scoring 25 of the half's remaining 52 points.

Both teams head to New Hampshire for their next games.  WPI heads to New London to face Colby-Sawyer at 7:30pm while Fitchburg ventures to Nashua to meet Daniel Webster at 7pm.