NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team enjoyed a big second half and used a balanced scoring attack in a 73-51 victory over visiting Bridgewater State University this afternoon at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons win their fourth straight to improve to 5-2 on the season for their best start since a 10-1 string to begin the 2018-19 campaign, while the Bears fall to 2-5.
Wheaton outscored Bridgewater State 35-20 in the second half, while holding its guests to just 21.4% (6-28) shooting in the stanza. The Bears were held to 33.9% (19-56) from the field for the game, including 2-16 (12.5%) from three point range and committed 23 turnovers, leading to a 23-3 points off turnover advantage for the Lyons. Wheaton shot 39.7% (27-68) from the floor and despite being outrebounded 44-39, the Lyons grabbed 15 offensive boards.
Sophomore guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) netted a game-high 15 points to go with two assists and a pair of rebounds for Wheaton, while sophomore forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) scored 14 points on 6-12 from the floor, including 2-4 from three-point range, pulled down eight rebounds and handed out an assist. Junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) dropped in 12 points on 6-9 shooting in addition to two rebounds, two blocked shots, a pair of steals and an assist. First year guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) contributed with nine points on 3-4 from the floor, four rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block, while committing just one turnover in a career-high 30 minutes off the bench.
First year forward Josh Campbell (Plymouth, Mass.) led Bridgewater State with 15 points on 6-10 from the field to go with eight rebounds, while graduate student center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 boards to go with a steal.
Campbell converted a fastbreak layup to give the Bears a 26-19 lead with 8:56 to play in the opening half, before the Lyons roared back to take the lead for good with a 19-5 run to close out the half with a 38-31 lead. Morrissey fueled the stretch for Wheaton with nine points.
The Lyons continued their momentum with a 9-4 string over the first six-plus minutes of the second session, fueled by six points from Thaher, to take a 47-35 margin with 13:53 left in the half.
Sophomore guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) converted a pair of free throws with 13:10 showing in the second half to cut the deficit to 47-37 for Bridgewater State. Wheaton did not let up, scoring nine of the next 11 points, including five from senior guard Jaden Keliher (Amesbury, Mass.), to increase its lead to 56-39 with 9:47 remaining in the contest.
Kikuba later made two more free throws at the 4:36 mark to cut the margin to 58-45 for the Bears, but the Lyons ripped off 13 straight points, fueled by five points from Iafrate and capped by a big putback layup from first year forward E-Lin Gross (New York City, N.Y.) to give the home team its largest lead of the afternoon at 71-45 with 53 ticks left in the game.
Herry made a layup with 17:31 left in the opening half to pull Wheaton even at 6-6 early in the first half, before Bridgewater State scored the next seven points, including five from Campbell, to take a 13-6 cushion with 15:28 to go in the period.
Senior swingman Justin Parsons (Portsmouth, R.I.) later canned a three-pointer to give the Bears their biggest margin of the game at 18-10 with 12:50 showing on the first half clock.
The Lyons are in action again on Wednesday, December 6 when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Clark University to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate at 7:00 p.m., while Bridgewater State heads to Franklin, Mass. on the same night to take on Dean College for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off.
