Johnson records double-double in final career contest

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's basketball was dealt a 64-49 loss by Springfield College on Saturday afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at Emerson Gymnasium on "Senior Day."

Prior to the game, seniors Brian Johnson (Roxbury, Mass./Brimmer and May School), Scott Faucher (Lebanon, N.H./Kimball Union Academy), Phil Gensicki (North Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) and Mike Hall (Lynnfield, Mass./Saint John's Prep) were all honored for their contributions towards the men's basketball program. Four-year student administrative assistant Caitlin Hampton (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was also honored for before tip-off for her assistance to the program.

Johnson highlighted the Lyons efforts on the afternoon with his third double-double of the season scoring 14 points while bringing down 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jaycob Morales (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) contributed eight points, five rebounds and one assist. Faucher had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Springfield College senior guard Alex Berthiaume (Springfield, Mass./St. Michael's) led all scorers with 14 points, three rebounds, two blocks and one assist. Junior forward Robbie Burke (Cheshire, Mass./Colby-Sawyer) compiled 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Classmate Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H./Conant) added nine points, eight boards, two steals and one assist.

Trailing 28-27 at halftime, the Pride used a 23-3 run over the opening seven minutes and 56-seconds of the second half to claim its largest lead of the contest at 17 points (50-33) and push their win streak to three-straight games. Berthiaume paced the offense with nine points, Martin had five and Burke contributed four points. Sophomore guard Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass./Bridgton Academy) had a three-pointer at 13:25 and freshman guard Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass./Tabor Academy) capped the run with a tip-in on a missed layup by Altman.

Wheaton held an eight point advantage, 12-4, at the 13:48 mark of the first half as all three seniors who were dressed accounted for the scoring. Johnson opened up the contest laying in an alley-oop attempt on a nice lob from sophomore Mike O'Loughlin (Milford, N.H./Milford). Johnson added another bucket at 17:58, Gensicki followed with a three-pointer at 17:02 and Faucher buried a three-pointer of his own with 15:16 on the scoreboard. Johnson capped the run with another alley-oop lay-in on beautiful feed from Morales from the left wing.

Springfield cut into the lead with stingy defense recording eight steals during that stretch. Senior guard Jordan Rote (Sheffield, Mass./Mt. Everett) had five out of the eight steals in the stanza punctuating his last swipe with a one-handed fast break dunk with 44-seconds remaining in the half.

Wheaton wraps up its 2012-13 season with a 9-15 record overall and 1-11 mark in NEWMAC play. Springfield (18-7, 9-3 NEWMAC) advances to the NEWMAC Championship next weekend as the third seed. The Pride will take on second-seeded MIT at top-seeded WPI.