Worcester, Mass. – WPI seniors Sam Longwell (Acton, Mass.) and Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, Mass.) each tallied 18 points and the host Engineers, ranked No. 12 in the latest D3Hoops.com national poll, held off a very game Clark squad, 61-56 in the regular season finale at Harrington Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

The Engineers are now 21-4 on the season and 11-3 in conference play and have earned the second seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament. They will face third-seeded Springfield in the second semifinal on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Babson. 

Clark (9-16), meanwhile, sees its season come to an end with a loss to their archrival for the second straight season and fourth in the last five campaigns.

WPI led 37-21 at intermission and, after a Clark layup by Joe Atkinson (Milford, Mass.) to beat the shot clock buzzer to start the second half, they got a three-pointer by Sean Doncaster (Medford, Mass.) and a basket in the paint from Obi Obiora (Boston, Mass.) to up the advantage by 19 points at 42-23.  

Clark, at that point needing a win to earn the fifth and final seed in the NEWMAC Tournament, then embarked upon a 27-10 points to get within two at 52-50 with 8:12 to go. 

From there the senior classmates of Longwell and Mastascusa took over offensively for the Boynton Hillers netting nine of WPI's last 10 points, including six by Mastascusa and three Longwell free throws. 

The Engineers ratcheted up the defense down the stretch, holding the Cougars to without a basket from a nearly seven and a half minutes and forcing the visitors to misfire on 10 of their last 11 field goal attempts.

The combo of Longwell (8) and Mastascusa (7) combined for 15 rebounds on the night while Doncaster amassed eight points and four rebounds to go along with a game-best four assists.   

Clark had a pair of graduate students post memorable outings in their final collegiate contests.  Nicholas DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.) shared scoring honors with 16 points while Andrew Musler (Belmont, Mass.) paced all players with 11 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive glass. 

Sophomore David Mercier (Milford, Mass.) joined DaPrato with 16 points and Conor Dow (Needham, Mass.) and Oliver Samples (Pulaski, Va.) also shined while their final college basketball games.