HARTFORD, Conn. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team was unable to recover from a late first half run by host Trinity College (Conn.) in a 74-57 loss this evening at Ray Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, Conn.
The Lyons dip to 1-3 on the season, while the Bantams improve to a perfect 3-0.
Despite the early hallmark of stingy defense from Wheaton this season, holding Trinity to just 38.9 (28-72) shooting from the floor, the Lyons couldn't take advantage on the glass. The Bantams boasted a 48-34 rebounding advantage, including 17 on the offensive board by their host. Wheaton shot just 36.8% (21-57) from the field, but did connect on 7-17 (41.2%) from long range.
Sophomore guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) paced the Lyons with 12 points and added five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) contributed with 11 points on 5-8 shooting to go with six boards, a steal, a block and an assist. Senior guard Jaden Keliher (Amesbury, Mass.) chipped in with nine points and a rebound.
Sophomore guard Jarrel Okorougo (Stoneham, Mass.) netted a game-high 13 points on 5-9 from the field and was 3-3 at the line for the Bantams in addition to pulling down five rebounds, blocking a pair of shots and coming up with a steal in just 22 minutes of action. Senior forward Ben Callahan-Gold (New York, N.Y.) registered a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with a block and a steal and graduate forward Dan Smith (Providence, R.I.) was 4-6 from the floor for a 10-point effort and added eight rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.
Herry knocked down a three-pointer to give Wheaton a 17-15 lead with 8:46 showing on the first half clock, but sophomore guard Drew Lazarre (West Haven, Conn.) matched him with a triple of his own to spark a 17-4 run to close out the half and give Trinity the lead for good. Smith scored six points during the game-breaking stretch and the Bantams took a 32-21 lead into the intermission.
Trinity scored the first six points of the second half to take a 38-21 advantage with 18:42 to play in the second stanza.
The Lyons shot 50% (13-26), but were unable to cut the deficit to fewer than 13 points for the rest of the contest. The Bantams led by as many as 19, while the score yo-yoed between a 13 and 19-point margin throughout the half.
First year guard Markus Nordin (Wenham, Mass.) canned a trifecta at the 16:49 mark of the second half to pull Wheaton to within 42-29, but Trinity scored the next six points to take its largest lead of the night at 48-29 with 15:18 remaining in the contest. It was a theme that played out for the rest of the game with the Lyons closing to within 13 on two more occasions and the Bantams posting a 19-point cushion twice as well.
Junior forward Tarmo Tari (Chelmsford, Mass.) buried a triple for Wheaton with 66 seconds left in the contest to cut the deficit to 70-57, before Trinity scored the final four points to set the final at 74-57.
The teams were knotted at 7-7 with 13:19 left on the first half clock, before the Lyons took their biggest advantage of the night following a 7-0 burst to give the visitors a 14-7 lead at 10:57. Sophomore guard Chris Billone (Windham, N.H.) sank a three-pointer as part of Wheaton's biggest run.
The Bantams answered with eight straight points, including a three-pointer each from Lazarre and senior forward Sean Okpoebo (Leominster, Mass.) to give Trinity a 15-14 edge with 8:57 to go in the opening half. Herry's trey gave the Lyons their last lead of the evening at 17-15.
Wheaton returns to the hardwood on Saturday, November 18 when it heads to Quincy, Mass. to take on Eastern Nazarene College for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off, while the Bantams travel to Dartmouth, Mass. for a 7:00 p.m. game at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on November 17.
