Dale guides Lyons with 14 points, six rebounds

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell to Springfield College, 71-58, in Blake Arena on Wednesday night in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup.

Freshman forward Quinton Dale (Winthrop, Mass./Taft School) turned in a team-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, six rebounds and two blocks to pace the Lyons. Sophomore guard Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn./Taft School) collected eight points and dished out three assists, while junior guard Mike Cannon (New York, N.Y./Hyde School) notched seven points and hauled in four boards.

Springfield senior forward Tim Swenson (Milbury, Mass./Milbury) posted a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Sophomore guard Alex Garstka (Westfield, Mass./Sullivan CC) led all scorers with 17 points, including a 7-for-10 showing from the free throw line. Senior guard Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H./Conant) and classmate Robbie Burke (Cheshire, Mass./Colby-Sawyer) both registered 14 and ten points, respectively.

The Lyons held a 35-31 advantage at the break as Dale and freshman Zach Parsons (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) combined for 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Both squads shot 50.0-percent from the floor in the stanza and tied in points in the paint at 18 apiece. Wheaton's bench outscored the Pride 15-4 in the half receiving five points from Cannon, two points each by junior guard Jaycob Morales (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) and freshman guard Agyei Gregory (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands/St. Andrews) and six from Parsons.

Springfield erased its four-point deficit with a 14-5 run which spanned 7:54 to open up the second half. Martin fueled the offense with six points and Burke chipped in four points. After two makes at the free throw line by Cannon, Swenson converted a layup and sophomore forward Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) followed with a three-pointer on a feed from Burke to push the Pride's lead back to eight (50-42).

The Pride maintained a two-possession gap for the remainder of the contest and went 10-for-10 at the free throw line from the 2:47 minute mark on to pick up their second-straight conference win.

Springfield outrebounded Wheaton, 38-32, and shot 43.6-percent (24-for-55) from the field. The Pride also went 19-for-27 (70.4%) at the charity stripe and outscored the guests 22-11 off turnovers. The Lyons recorded a 25-8 margin in bench points.

Wheaton (6-5, 2-1 NEWMAC) hosts Babson College this Saturday at home with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. Springfield (11-3, 2-1 NEWMAC) travels to MIT on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup.

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