NEW LONDON, Conn. – First year guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) matched his career high again with 19 points and junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) added a career-best 15 points to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team to a 75-60 victory over host United States Coast Guard Academy this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Roland Hall in New London, Conn.
The Lyons clinch a NEWMAC playoff spot with their fourth straight win and five out of their last six to improve to 14-8 overall for their highest triumph total since they posted 16 victories during the 2017-18 campaign. Wheaton is now 8-6 in NEWMAC play. The Bears fall to 13-10 and 6-8.
Wheaton overcame 16 turnovers, while Coast Guard committed just six miscues. The Lyons shot 53.2% (25-47) from the field and made good on half of their 22 three-point field goal attempts. Wheaton also owned a 39-32 rebounding advantage, despite 12 offensive boards by the home team. The Bears were unable to get shots to fall in either half, shooting under 35% in each session for a 33.8% (22-65) mark for the game.
Iafrate was 7-11 from the floor and a perfect 1-1 from three-point range and 4-4 from the free throw line for the Lyons, while pulling down five rebounds and handing out a pair of assists. Thaher made four of six shots and grabbed six boards in addition to dishing out two assists and coming up with a pair of steals. Sophomore guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.) contributed with 11 points and was 3-4 from three-point range and added two rebounds and two assists.
Coast Guard was led by 15 points from sophomore guard Mitch Shettles (New Abany, Miss.). He also hauled in four rebounds and recorded an assist. Junior center Cameron Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block, while junior guard Declan Rooney (Seattle, Wash.) chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Rooney stuck a three-pointer to give the Bears their first lead of the game at 8-7 with 15:44 to play in the opening half and erase a four-point deficit. Coast Guard clung to an 9-7 edge just a minute later, before Wheaton ripped off 10 straight points, capped by a Thaher three-pointer to give the Lyons a 17-9 advantage with 13:07 left to go in the half. The Bears answered with seven of the next eight points, including a jumper from Rooney to pull the home team within 18-16 at the 11:46 mark. It was the closest Coast Guard would get for the remainder of the contest.
Junior forward Adryan Herron (Saint Leonard, Md.) hit a jumper to keep the Bears within a possession at 23-20 with 9:52 showing on the first half clock, but Wheaton staged the most crucial stretch of the game, out-scoring its hosts, 21-4, over the next six-plus minutes to take a commanding 44-24 advantage with 3:19 remaining in the half. The Lyons put on a clinic from long range during the game-defining run, knocking down five triples, including a pair from Pedevillano. Wheaton took a 47-30 cushion into the intermission.
Sophomore guard Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) and Rooney buried back-to-back threes to open the second half and pull Coast Guard within 47-36 just 50 seconds into the new session.
Shettles drilled a three-ball at the 17:23 mark to keep the home team within 50-39, but Thaher scored six points to spark a 9-3 burst to increase the Lyons' lead to 59-42 with 11:27 to play in the game. A jumper from Iafrate maintained Wheaton's lead at 61-45 at the 9:51 mark, before a 12-5 stretch, paced by seven points from Brown, got the Bears' deficit to single digits at 66-57. It was as close as they would get for the rest of the contest thanks to nine unanswered points from the Lyons that gave them a comfortable 75-57 advantage with 78 seconds left in the game.
Wheaton returns to the floor on Wednesday, February 14 when it hosts NEWMAC foe Emerson College in Emerson Gymnasium for an 8:00 p.m. tip, while Coast Guard heads to Newport, R.I. to take on Salve Regina University on the same night at 7:00 p.m.
