NORTON, Mass. – Sophomore guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.) scored a career-high 16 points and first year guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) fell a rebound shy of posting his first collegiate triple-double to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team over visiting Springfield College, 70-56, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 11-8 overall and 5-6 in league play, while the Pride fall to 6-13 and 3-7.
Wheaton shot 41.1% (23-56) from the floor and held Springfield to just 37.0% (20-54). The Lyons owned a 40-33 rebounding advantage and outscored their guests, 16-8, in second chance points.
Pedevillano canned a career-best five three-pointers and added three rebounds, an assist and a steal, while Iafrate handed out 11 assists to tie for the fourth-highest single-game total in school history. In addition he netted 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and came up with a pair of steals. Senior guard Jaden Keliher (Amesbury, Mass.) netted a personal-best 13 points on 5-9 from the field, including 3-4 from three-point range and added four rebounds and a steal in 21 minutes off the bench.
Graduate student guard Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) led the Pride with 15 points on 6-10 shooting and was 3-4 from long range in addition to pulling down four rebounds, dishing out an assist and coming up with a game-high seven steals. Senior guard Nick Bray (Hartford, Conn.) was 5-9 from the floor as part of a 14-point effort combined with two rebounds and a pair of assists.
Wheaton held the Pride to just 20 points in the first half and scored the first 11 points of the game, while holding Springfield scoreless through the first three minutes. Pedevillano capped the opening run with a three-pointer, while sophomore guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) scored six points in the opening minutes for the Lyons.
Sophomore guard John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) knocked down a jumper in the paint later in the half to cut the deficit to 15-7 for the Pride with 13:11 showing on the first half clock. Wheaton began trading chunks of points with Springfield, ripping off eight straight, capped by a three-ball from sophomore forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) to give the home team a 23-7 advantage with 11:57 to play in the half. The Pride answered with six unanswered points to pull within 23-13 at 10:42, but the Lyons scored the next nine points, including five from Keliher, to increase their margin to 32-13 with 6:07 left in the session. Hoch scored five points in a row for Springfield to make it 32-18, but Wheaton matched with five of its own to restore the cushion to 19 at 37-18 with 2:09 showing in the half. Iafrate ended the half with a layup at the buzzer to give the Lyons a 39-20 halftime cushion.
Pedevillano gave Wheaton its largest lead of the evening when he buried a trifecta at the 17:16 mark of the second stanza to give the blue and white a 47-25 lead. The Pride scored the next seven points to slice the deficit to 47-32 with 14:04 remaining in the contest. The Lyons scored six of the next eight points, including a jumper outside the paint from Keliher to give Wheaton a comfortable 53-34 advantage at 11:27.
Bray converted a layup to cap a five-point burst for Springfield to close to within 53-39 with 8:02 left in the game, but it was as close as the visitors would get for the remainder of the night. Wheaton put together a 10-2 stretch, punctuated by a three-pointer from Pedevillano to push the Lyons' lead to 63-41 with 3:43 showing on the second half clock. Keliher drained another three-ball at 2:07 to maintain Wheaton's margin at 68-47, before seven unanswered points, including five from Bray, pulled the Pride within 68-54 with 36 ticks left in the game.
The Lyons return to the court on Saturday, February 3 when they travel to Newport, R.I. to take on NEWMAC foe Salve Regina University at 1:00 p.m., while Springfield hosts Salve Regina on January 31 at 7:00 p.m.
