NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's basketball team fell to perennial New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) power Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 53-69, in a Thursday night battle. Coast Guard found themselves threatening at multiple points but were ultimately unable to close the gap on their conference foes.

The Bears drop to 4-10 overall and 0-6 in league play, while WPI improves to 11-3 and 4-1, respectively. The Engineers will have a chance to make it back-to-back wins on Saturday, January 17th, when they host the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (5-9, 1-4).

The Engineers entered the game ranked 24th in the weekly d3hoops.com Top 25, having jumped up one spot from the previous week.

Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) led the home team with 18 points and ten rebounds, his NEWMAC-leading fifth double-double of the season. Standing out on defense were Trevor Parks (Clearwater, Fla.) and Jordan Frazer (Columbia, S.C.), with Parks recording two blocks and Frazer nabbing a game-high three steals.

Nathan Bledsoe led the Engineers from the bench, pouring in 22 points to go with his six rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Just behind him was another standout reserve performance from Justin Molen, who added 18 points and a game-leading seven assists.

The game came down to who was able to bounce back from underwhelming shooting in the first half, and WPI rose to the occasion. After going just 37.5% (9-for-24) from the field and 3-for-12 on threes in the opening 20, the Engineers hit at a 58.3% clip (14-for-24) in the second while going 5-for-9 on threes. Coast Guard shot 25.8% (8-for-31) overall and 2-for-13 from long range in the first and 30.8% (8-for-26) and 4-for-17 in the second.

Coast Guard found themselves nipping at WPI's heels at multiple points throughout the game. With the Engineers holding a 20-13 lead with 5:01 to go in the first, back-to-back buckets by Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) and Farrell closed the deficit to three points, while the Bears stayed within five for the rest of the half.

In the second, the Engineers built a 54-38 lead at 8:31 to go before Farrell and Parent fueled a 12-4 run to cut the visiting advantage down to eight with 3:44 remaining. Farrell scored seven and Parent had five, but the run was snuffed out when Molen responded to a pair of Parent free throw makes with a dagger three on the other end to put his team back up by more than ten.

FULL BOX SCORE

Bears men's basketball will get another shot at pinning down an elusive first win in NEWMAC play this season when they travel to Salve Regina University (11-3, 4-1) on Saturday, January 17th, at 1 PM ET for the penultimate game of their first tour through the conference calendar. The two programs split last season's series, with the Bears winning the most recent match-up, 72-68.