O'Loughlin paces Lyons with 13 points

NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team dropped a 75-50 decision to No. 11 ranked Babson College on Wednesday night in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup inside Emerson Gymnasium.

Wheaton senior guard Mike O'Loughlin (Milford, N.H./Milford) paced the hosts with 13 points. Sophomore guard Ben Christopher (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) added seven points off the bench, while classmate Zach Parsons (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) contributed six points.

Babson senior forward John Wickey (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) led all student-athletes with 15 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Classmates Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H./New Hampton School) and David Mack (Holden, Mass./Bancroft) both registered 11 points each, while sophomore forward Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass./Taft School) tallied nine points and hauled in five rebounds.

Eight other Babson student-athletes registered at least one point as sophomore guard Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) guided the pack with six points, two rebounds and one assist.

The Green and White scored on six of its first seven possessions, getting contributions from all five starters to build a 13-3 lead just 3:20 into the game. Dean knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead to 13, and then added a layup following a steal by first-year Bradley Jacks (Fort Washington, Md./Gonzaga College HS) to make it 20-4 at the 14:34 mark.

Wheaton answered with five-straight points, but Babson ripped off an 8-0 run to push its advantage to 28-9 on a pair of Dean free throws with 8:42 remaining in the period. The Lyons, who missed 10 of their first 13 shots, cut their deficit to 15 with just over five minutes left in the stanza, but the Beavers outscored the hosts 13-7 to close the half and take a 47-28 lead into the locker room.

Babson scored eight straight points to open the second stanza and went on a 22-4 run to build a 37-point lead with 9:12 to go in the contest. Back-to-back hoops by Flannery made it 56-30 at the 14:24 mark, and Bohmiller and Wickey followed with consecutive layups to push the lead to 60-30.

Sophomores Charlie Rice (Barnstable, Mass./Canterbury School) and Kyle Rodegher (Andover, Conn./RHAM) then combined for nine-straight points as the Beavers took their biggest lead of the night at 69-32.

The Green and White shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) from the floor and outscored Wheaton 50-18 in the paint. The Beavers also held a 52-29 edge on the glass and scored 20 second-chance points off of 15 offensive boards.

The Lyons shot just 29.6 percent (16-of-54) from the field, and finished just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday as Babson travels to No. 10 ranked WPI at 3 p.m., while Wheaton visits Springfield for a 2 p.m. tip-off.

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