NORTON, Mass. – First year guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) scored a career-high 21 points, including 17 in the second half, and the Wheaton College (Mass.) defense held visiting Emerson College to just two points in the final 6:13 of play, en-route to a 66-57 victory this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference men's basketball action at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons win their fifth straight game for their longest win streak since the 2018-19 season and have now won six of seven to improve to 15-8 overall and 9-6 in conference play. The Lyons' nine NEWMAC league victories are the most for the program since the 1999-2000 campaign. Wheaton is a near-perfect 10-1 at home with its only loss coming on a buzzer-beating three-pointer. The win secures a home playoff date for the Lyons on February 20 at Emerson Gymnasium.

The Lions slip to 10-14 and 6-9 on the season.

The teams combined for just 15 turnovers with Emerson committing seven miscues and Wheaton getting charged with eight. The contest was a defensive battle with both teams failing to score over 30 points in at least one half during the night. The Lyons shot 37.9% (22-58) for the game, while the Lions owned a 33.3% (22-66) mark. 

Iafrate was brilliant in the second half, going 5-6 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line, while making his only three-point field goal attempt. He finished the game shooting 7-10 from the floor and added five rebounds, three assists, a steal, a blocked shot and did not commit a turnover in 33 minutes of play for Wheaton. Sophomore guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) netted 15 points, pulled down three rebounds and handed out a pair of assists, while junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) came off the bench to finish a board shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds in addition to three assists.

Sophomore guard Brendan McNamara (Arlington, Mass.) led Emerson with 13 points and added four rebounds and two assists, while senior Trevor Arico (Ann Arbor, Mich.) contributed with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. First year Caden Zurek (Gilbert, Ariz.) was 4-5 from the field and scored eight points, ripped down nine rebounds and handed out an assist.

McNamara snapped a 53-53 tie with a layup for the Lions with 6:13 to go in the game, but the Lyons closed out the game with a 15-2 run, fueled by five points apiece from Iafrate and Herry, to come away with a nine-point win after trailing by as many as nine points in the half. 

Wheaton scored the first five points of the evening and held Emerson scoreless through the first 4:12 of play. The Lions put together a 7-2 stretch, including five points from McNamara, to knot the game at 7-7 with 13:28 showing in the first stanza. The Lyons responded with another five-point blitz after a three-ball from Thaher and a layup from Morrissey to take a 12-7 margin with 12:29 left in the half. 

Emerson put Wheaton on its heels with a 15-4 run, capped by back-to-back layups from sophomore forward Asher Gardiner (Christchurch, New Zealand), to take a 22-16 advantage at the 7:23 mark of the half. Thaher kept the Lyons within five points with a layup at 4:58, before the Lions ripped off the next seven points, including four from Zurek, to increase their cushion to 33-21 with 97 seconds left in the half.

Wheaton scored the final six points of the half, including a three-pointer with no time left that Thaher banked off the glass, to cut the intermission deficit to 33-27.

Junior guard Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) pulled the home team within four at 33-29 with a pair of free throws coming just eight seconds into the new session. Emerson scored seven of the next nine points to take a 40-31 lead with 17:01 to go in the game. Iafrate put the Lyons on his back with 10 points to fuel a dominant 15-2 stretch over the next five and a half minutes to give Wheaton a 46-42 lead with 11:27 showing in the second half. 

The teams traded the lead before the Lions took their final margin of the night at 55-53.

The Lyons close out the regular season, hosting Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, February 17 on Senior Day at Emerson Gymnasium at 1:00 p.m., while Emerson hosts Salve Regina University at 3:00 p.m. on the same day.