WORCESTER, Mass. — Sophomore guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) netted a career-high 27 points, but the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team fell in overtime to host Clark University (Mass.), 90-79, this evening in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener at Kneller Athletic Center in Worcester, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Cougars improve to 7-1 and 1-0.
Clark overcame a poor-shooting first half that saw the home team post a 32.1% (9-28) shooting mark, before finding its range to sink 57.1% (20-35) in the second half and overtime periods to score 67 points. The Cougars used its transition offense to erase a 16-point lead and build an 11-point advantage in the second half on the back of a 15-3 point advantage on the fast break.
Herry was 9-18 from the field for Wheaton to go with seven rebounds, an assist and a steal, while junior guard Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) scored 14 points and added four boards, a steal and an assist. Sophomore forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) contributed with 11 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block to go with a career-best five assists.
Junior guard Bruce Saintilus (Plainville, Mass.) matched Herry with 27 points to lead Clark and added seven rebounds and a game-high seven steals. He was 13-16 from the free throw line. Junior guard Isaiah Taylor (Methuen, Mass.) netted 21 points to go with six rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot and junior guard Ian Calabrese (Simsbury, Conn.) came off the bench to score 18 points in just 14 minutes, while hitting every shot he took, going 5-5 from the floor, including a perfect 4-4 from long range and 4-4 from the free throw line.
The Lyons maintained a 13-point halftime lead after Herry buried a three-pointer to give Wheaton a 48-35 advantage at the 13:22 mark of the second half. Senior guard Jaden Keliher (Amesbury, Mass.) completed a three-point play with a free throw to bump the Lyons lead back to double-digits at 51-39 with 12:07 left in the second stanza.
The Cougars began to chip away at the margin with a 10-2 run, fueled by a 4-4 shooting effort to pull within 53-49 at the 9:52 mark. Junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) converted a layup to increase the Wheaton lead to six, before Clark put together an overpowering 23-6 stretch, paced by 14 points from Saintilus, to take its largest lead of the evening at 72-61 with 3:16 remaining in the second half.
The Lyons managed to regroup and hold the Cougars to just a point in the final three-plus minutes, while Herry scored seven of the team's final 12 points, including a trifecta with eight ticks left in the second session to knot the game at 73-73 to send the game into overtime.
Clark made three of four from the field in the overtime period, while holding Wheaton to just 1-8 (12.5%) in the extra period during a 17-6 run to come away with the victory. Taylor (six) and Saintilus (five) combined for 11 points in the overtime session for the Cougars.
Clark scored the first five points of the game, before the Lyons ripped off 13 straight points, including five from Herry and four each from Thaher and Morrissey, to take an eight-point margin with 14:04 showing on the first half clock.
Senior guard Jordan Richard (Lawrence, Mass.) knocked down a three-ball to cut the deficit to 18-13 for the Cougars, but Wheaton scored 11 unanswered points, including five from Herry, to take its biggest lead of the night at 29-13 with 6:41 left in the first stanza. Clark closed the gap to 29-19 with six straight points, before Thaher later canned a trey for the visitors with 38 seconds left to take a 36-23 lead into the intermission.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, December 9 whey they host Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Emerson Gymnasium in conference play at 1:00 p.m., while the Cougars head to Newport, R.I. to take on NEWMAC opponent Salve Regina University at 1:00 p.m.
