SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team was unable to recover from a late first half run in a 71-61 loss at host Springfield College this evening in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Blake Arena in Springfield, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in league play, while the Pride improve to 4-7 and 1-1.
Wheaton shot just 29.9% (20-67) from the field, including 21.2% (7-33) from three-point range, while Springfield enjoyed a much better night from the floor, shooting 47.1% (24-51) and knocked down six of 11 attempts from long range for a 54.5% three-point shooting mark.
Sophomore forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and added 10 points for his third double-double of the season to go with a steal for the Lyons, while junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) netted a team-high 12 points to go with six boards, three blocks and a trio of assists. Senior guard Jaden Keliher (Amesbury, Mass.) scored 10 points on 4-6 from the floor and buried both of his three-balls in addition to grabbing three rebounds and handing out an assist in 19 minutes off the bench. First year guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) contributed on the defensive end for Wheaton with a career-high six steals and added six rebounds, five points and an assist.
Graduate student guard Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) led all players with 23 points on 6-11 from the field for the Pride, including 3-5 from three-point range and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line to go with five rebounds, three steals, a block and an assist. Junior forward Gary Bess (Miami, Fla.) chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Dimetri drained a trifecta and Morrissey later added a free throw at the 8:12 mark of the opening half to give the Lyons their largest lead at 22-15. Junior forward Duncan Bubar (Newton, Mass.) converted a layup with 5:47 showing on the first half clock to maintain the visitors' lead, but Springfield canned a three-pointer in three consecutive trips down the floor and added a layup from Hoch with 3:06 to go in the half to cap 11 unanswered points and give the home team a 28-24 margin. Keliher banged a triple just 10 seconds later to pull Wheaton within a point, but it was as close as it would get for the remainder of the contest. The Pride closed out the half with seven straight points as part of an 18-3 stretch to close out the half and give them a 35-27 halftime advantage.
Neither team scored within the first three minutes of the second session, but Springfield scored the first six points to extend its run to 24-3 over a span of 11:12 to take its largest lead of the evening at 41-27 with 14:25 to go in the game.
Iafrate converted a layup for the Lyons to cut the deficit to 43-33 with 12:06 left in the half. Sophomore forward Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ont.) completed a three-point play with a free throw to bump the margin back to 14 for the Pride at 51-37 with 9:01 remaining. Wheaton countered with eight of the next 10 points, including five from Thaher and a three-pointer from the big man to make it 53-45 at the 4:56 mark. The trend would continue for the rest of the game with Springfield leading by as many as 14 and the Lyons cutting the deficit to eight. Senior guard Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.). made a layup with 2:52 showing to give the home team a 62-48 cushion, before Wheaton countered with a 7-1 burst, backed by four Morrissey points, to come within 63-55 at 2:03 of the period.
The Lyons opened the game with the first four points of the night, but the Pride answered with six straight points, capped by a Hoch layup for a 6-4 margin at the 16:46 mark. Sophomore guard John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) drilled a three-pointer to keep Springfield in front at 9-8. Wheaton put together an 8-2 string, that included three-balls from Morrissey and Keliher, to give the visitors a 16-11 lead with 11:32 to play in the first half. Junior guard Tre Hodge (Springfield, Mass.) later sank a pair of free throws to cut the margin to three at 18-15, before the Lyons took their biggest lead of the contest.
Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, January 6 when it hosts Vermont State University Lyndon at Emerson Gymnasium for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off, while the Pride travel to Newport, R.I. to take on conference foe Salve Regina University on the same day at 1:00 p.m.
