Ian Converse of Woodstock, Conn., Earns Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament MVP Honors

2016 Nov 26

Senior Ian Converse earned MVP honors as WPI needed an extra five minutes to knock off DeSales, 73-70, in the championship game of the second annual Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament Saturday afternoon in Harrington Auditorium. Converse dropped 21 points in the title game to go with 14 in Friday night's opener.

WPI, who claims its second title in as many years, is now 3-0 while DeSales dips to 2-1. Both teams received votes in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25.

Trailing 61-59 with 14.6 seconds left in regulation, Bulldog senior Kuity Slanger went to the line and hit both free throws. Just over five seconds later, sophomore Jamani Spencer made the back end of a double bonus to make it a 62-60 game. Slanger then forced overtime with a layup as 4.2 seconds remained.

Senior Ryan Callahan put DeSales ahead in the extra session with a traditional three-point play. After Spencer hit a jumper at 3:04, Converse converted an and-one of his own for the two-point advantage. Another Converse layup increased the cushion to 69-65 with 1:15 to go. Slanger and classmate Joseph Lococo each cut the deficit to a pair, but freshman Jake Wisniewski had the final say on the front end of a pair of freebies.

Eight of Converse's 10 first half points keyed an 18-4 run in the opening 7:05 as Slanger accounted for 10 of DeSales points in a 14-6 run to end the half. WPI jumped out to a seven point advantage 3:11 into the second. From there, it was a relatively close game with the Bulldogs tying the game five times and taking a pair of leads thanks to Lococo. The Engineers had a six point margin with 2:43 in regulation.

Spencer outscored the DeSales bench 20-19 as sophomore James Loring and junior Chris Rodgers accounted for the other 13. Wisniewski tallied 11 points and Sean Doncaster posted eight. Converse also chipped in with eight boards as he and Doncaster each had a trio of steals.

Slanger finished with 19 points as Lococo (four steals) put up 13. Callahan added 10 to go with eight rebounds.

The Engineers were better in points off turnovers (24-13), points in the paint (38-30) and fast break points (10-2). The Bulldogs shot a game-best 48.1 percent, including 38.9 from downtown, hauled in more rebounds (37-32) and had 12 of the 20 second chance points.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 45 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.