New London, Conn.--  Junior Noah Baldez scored a game-high 18 points to lead Coast Guard men's basketball to a 73-58 victory over WPI in their fourth straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory on Saturday afternoon. The Bears improve to 14-6 overall and 5-5 in conference play.  WPI drops to 16-5 overall and 7-3 in the NEWMAC.

WPI has won the last 22 games against Coast Guard dating back to 2007-08 season when the Bears beat the Engineers 82-66 in the NEWMAC championships.

Baldez was 7-11 from the field, dished out four assists, and added four steals in the victory. Junior Jason Frazer matched his season-high with 14 points, going 4-9 from the field and 3-7 from three point range. Senior Nolan Benson and junior Packy Witkowski both added 12 points each while junior Justin Kane brought down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Kahleb Downing led WPI with 17 points with six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Logan O'Donnell added 15 points for the Engineers, going 6-6 from the field and 3-5 from the free throw line.

WPI had their largest in the first half at 7:24 when Downing mad a free throw to give the Engineers a 24-16 advantage. At 4:31, Frazer sunk a three pointer to spark a 12-4 run capped off by a Witkowski jumper with four seconds remaining to tie the game 30-30 at the half.

Witkowski opened the half with a three pointer and two free-throws in the first minute of the half as the Bears took a 35-32 lead. Frazer sunk a fast break three pointer to extend the Bears lead by 6. Ethan Harrell made a three pointer to WPI at 17:06 to bring the Engineers within one at 40-39. With the score tied at 48-48 at 11:44 Coast Guard scored the next seven points to take the lead back, 55-48. The Bears put the game away 8:02 when Benson made a layup to spark an 18-8 run to end the game with the 73-58 final.

Coast Guard shot 43.5% (27-62) from the field and held a 41-32 advantage in rebounds.

The Bears are back in action on Wednesday, February 6 at 7:00 PM when they travel to MIT.