Worcester Upends Bridgton

BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS -- Wes Wardrop scored 14 points and inside/outside threat Craig Smith added another 14 to lift Worcester Academy to a 71-53 NEPSAC quarterfinal victory at Endicott College.

Wardrop, who hit for two three-pointers, is headed to Loyola of Marymount while Smith will play in the Big East for Boston College.

The first 10 minutes of play saw a relatively close game. It was in the latter part of the first that that Worcester started to pull away. Nick Stafford hit a short banker and was fouled with 1:43 to play. After Stafford hit his free throw, Worcester moved to a 33-21 advantage. Just before the halftime buzzer, Smith hit a putback to give Worcester a 38-23 lead.

The advantage ballooned to 49-30 with 17:25 to play after Daryl Pegram, who is headed to Indiana next season, hit a three-pointer. Pegram leads Worcester Academy in three-pointers.

Stafford had a solid game too. He hit two consecutive dunks that lifted the pro-Worcester crowd with 12:55 to play. Worcester led 57-32. Jarrett Jack's reverse layup gave Worcester a 62-34 lead with 9:32 to go. Bridgton made a brief run that cut the lead to eight points at one time during the second half but Worcester had too much balance in its lineup.

Pegram finished with 11 points. He also took three charges while Stafford added nine and Jack had eight. Jack is headed to Georgia Tech next season while Wisconsin bound forward Jason Chappell looked sharp in the first half. He scored five points and did an excellent job on the Bridgton big bodies.

Bridgton was led by Louis Ford, who had 17 points. Larry Turner had 12 points and Danny Boyle also had 12. Missouri bound forward Giedrius Rinkevicious continues to show improvement in his overall game for Bridgton. He scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds.