NORTON, Mass. – Junior guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) led the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team with 17 points in a 73-71 victory over visiting Babson College 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 7-7 overall and 2-3 in league play, while the Beavers drop to 9-6 and 3-3.
Wheaton shot 49% (24-49) from the floor and knocked down 11 three-pointers, while limiting Babson to just 39.4% (28-71) shooting. The Beavers committed just six turnovers on the night and took advantage of 16 Lyon miscues to build a 15-5 points off turnovers margin to keep them in the game. Wheaton owned a 38-35 advantage on the boards, despite its guests pulling down 13 offensive caroms.
The Lyons led for all but 71 seconds of the contest, despite Babson cutting the deficit to two points multiple times in the final 14 minutes of the game.
Herry canned four trifectas and added two rebounds, an assist and a steal for Wheaton, while sophomore guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) flirted with a double-double, scoring 15 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists. First year guard Sean Perri (West Roxbury, Mass.) came off the bench to net 14 points, including four triples, and added three assists and a rebound in 23 minutes off the bench.
Graduate student guard Alex Stoddard (Wellesley, Mass.) led all players with 24 points, including five three-balls, in addition to five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals for the Beavers. First year guard Timmy Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) contributed with 15 points on 6-12 from the field to go with three assists and a steal, while first year guard Ryan Frauenheim (Manasquan, N.J.) came off the bench to score 12 points, hand out four assists, make two steals and grab a pair of rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Herry drilled a trifecta just 58 seconds into the second half to give the Lyons a seemingly comfortable 40-28 cushion, but the visitors put together a 13-3 stretch, including five points from Stoddard, to cut the deficit to 43-41 with 13:57 to play in the game.
The outburst from Babson began a dance between the teams for the final 14 minutes that saw Wheaton lead by six or more points 10 times, while the Beavers cut the margin to just two or fewer points on seven occasions, but the Lyons never relinquished their lead.
Wheaton netted the next six points, including four on a pair of layups from first year forward Rex Zadrozny (Cumbrerland, R.I.), to bump the home team's advantage to 49-41 with 12:21 showing on the second half clock. Babson chipped away during a 12-6 string, capped by a Stoddard triple to pull the Beavers to within 55-53 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Fraunenheimer later hit on a floating jumper in the paint to keep Babson close at 57-55, but the Lyons scored five unanswered points, while taking advantage of a technical foul, to increase their lead to 62-55 with 5:35 left in the session.
The Beavers closed to within 65-62, but Perri drained a three-pointer at the 2:21 mark to extend Wheaton's lead to 68-62. Babson threatened to finally break through with a lead in the second half after Frauenheimer converted a driving layup on a fast break and added a free throw to complete the three-point play and bring the Beavers to within 72-71 with just 6.6 seconds left in the game. Iafrate made one of two free throws to bump the Lyons margin to 73-71 with 4.8 seconds to go, but Fraunenheimer's long three-point try clanged off the mark to keep the victory intact for Wheaton.
Babson's only lead of the night came after Mulvey hit a jumper outside the paint to make it 4-3 at the 17-minute mark of the opening half. The Lyons took control with a combination of suffocating defense and reliable offense during a 24-8 stretch, paced by nine points from Herry, to take a 27-12 cushion with 5:51 remaining in the first half.
Mulvey later canned a trey to shave the difference to single-digits at 27-18 with 3:45 to go in the half. Wheaton shook off the Beavers' push to get back in the game and went on a blistering 10-2 run, punctuated by a Perri three, to give the home team its largest lead of the night at 37-20 with 66 ticks left in the opening stanza.
Babson made the most of the final minute, receiving a jumper from Frauenheimer and a big three-pointer from Mulvey before time expired to pull the Beavers to within 37-25 at the intermission.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, January 18 when they host NEWMAC rival Emerson College for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff at Emerson Gymnasium, while Babson hosts Salve Regina University in conference play on January 21 at 7:00 p.m.
