Box Score BOSTON--Nico Donato produced a turnover with a steal and then converted the game-winning lay-up as time expired to lift host Wentworth to an exciting 55-53 Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball victory over Western New England at Tansey Gymnasium on Wednesday. The Golden Bears fall to 6-15 overall and 4-11 in the CCC after the heartbreaking loss, while the Leopards improve to 11-11 on the season and 8-7 in the conference.

Seniors Dennis Rinaldi and Ryan Mickiewicz paced the WNE offense with 16 and 14 points, respectively, on solid shooting nights for both student-athletes. Rinaldi made seven of his 10 field goal attempts mostly from the paint and Mickiewicz was 5-for-10 from his guard spot. While Rinaldi led all scorers, Mickiewicz had a game-tying eight rebounds.

Derek Mayo (8 rebounds) led the Leopards with 15 points, followed by Jherson Colon with 11 and Donato finished with 10.

Rinaldi knotted the score 53-all after he made the first of two free throw attempts with 1 minute and 26 seconds remaining in the game. Both teams missed potential go-ahead lay-ups 17 seconds apart before WNE coach Mike Theulen called timeout following a Nick DeFeo steal to set up a final play with 17 seconds to work with. But with the Golden Bears in their half-court offense, Donato's pressure defense forced a turnover and he went coast-to-coast the other way to score the buzzer-beater.

Western New England shot 44.7 percent from the field (21-47) while Wentworth was 41.2 percent (21-51). Both teams made six treys, but Wentworth was 7-for-14 from the free throw line and WNE was just 5-of-12.

Western New England stretched a 30-29 halftime lead to 35-30 early in the second period after Rinaldi opened with a jumper and DeFeo sank a 3-pointer at the 18:33 mark.

Colon gave Wentworth its first lead of the second half, 38-37, on a jumper with 12:17 on the scoreboard clock. That was part of a 9-0 run that ended on a pair of Mayo free throws for a 43-37 advantage at 11:13.

But WNE outscored the Leopards 15-5 over the next 6:55 to take a 52-48 lead with 3:34 remaining. Mickiewicz scored eight consecutive points--including a couple treys--to spark the rally.

Colon, however, scored Wentworth's next five points on a 3-pointer and jumper before Rinaldi's game-tying free throw, 53-all.

The close contest featured six ties and seven lead changes, as neither team led by more than seven points. Wentworth benefited from 17 points off 13 WNE turnovers; the Golden Bears had five points off 11 Leopards miscues.

Western New England returns to action at 3 p.m. Saturday at Eastern Nazarene in Quincy.