NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team boasted four players with 13 or more points in a 70-64 victory over host United States Coast Guard Academy this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Roland Gymnasium in New London, Conn.
The Lyons win their fourth straight game – all in conference – to improve to 9-7 overall and 4-3 in league play, while the Bears dip to 7-9 and 3-4.
Wheaton shot just 38.2% (21-55) for the game, but held Coast Guard to 35.6% (26-73) to mark its fourth straight outing of limiting its opponent to under 40% shooting. The Lyons owned a 45-35 rebounding advantage, but committed 16 turnovers, leading to a 17-8 point differential off turnovers for the home squad. Wheaton took advantage of 26 free throw attempts, converting 22 of them, while the Bears made all three free throws it was awarded.
Sophomore guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) led Wheaton with 16 points on 6-9 from the field and added four assists, three steals and a pair of rebounds, while junior guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) netted 15 points, grabbed six boards and handed out three assists. Junior guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.) contributed with 13 points and knocked down 4-7 from three-point range in addition to pulling down four rebounds. Senior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with a block.
Senior guard Ben Yagey (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led all scorers with 18 points on 7-14 shooting and added a rebound and an assist for the Bears. Senior guard Declan Rooney (Seattle, Wash.) scored 10 points, came down with four rebounds and dished out two assists and junior guard Trevor Parks (Oldsmar, Fla.) chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, a pair of steals and a blocked shot.
Wheaton owned a 56-53 margin at the 6:14 mark of the second half, before Coast Guard scored seven of the next nine points, behind five points from junior guard Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) to take a 60-58 lead with 4:02 left in the game. The Lyons scored five unanswered points to take the lead for good after a three-ball from Herry and a jumper from Iafrate to give the visitors a 63-60 lead with 2:56 to go in the contest. Rooney later pulled the Bears within 65-64 with 59 ticks left on the clock, but Wheaton closed out the game with the final five points to take home the victory.
Neither team led by more than two points early in the opening half until five straight points gave Coast Guard the lead at 17-14 with the game's 10th lead change in the opening seven minutes of play.
First year forward Rex Zadrozny (Cumberland, R.I.) put down a dunk for Wheaton to pull it within 17-16 at the 12:47 mark, but the Bears put together a 12-3 stretch, paced by five points from Parks, to take the largest lead of the game at 29-19 with 7:48 left in the first stanza.
The Lyons shook off the burst with one of their own, outscoring their host, 12-2, including five points from both Pedevillano and Herry, to pull even at 31-31 with 3:21 to play in the first half. Coast Guard junior forward Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) sank a pair of free throws for the only points of the final three-plus minutes of the half to give the home team a 33-31 lead before the break.
Yagey converted a layup with 17:14 to go in the second half to give CGA a 39-37 difference. Wheaton ripped off the next nine points, paced by four points from Iafrate to give the Lyons a 46-39 margin with 14:59 to play in the game.
Wheaton later took its largest lead of the game, following a layup from Thaher to give the Lyons a 53-45 cushion with 9:24 showing on the second half clock. The Bears clawed back, scoring eight of the next nine points to cut the deficit to a point at 54-53 with 6:18 remaining in the contest.
Wheaton returns to action on Thursday, January 23 when it hosts NEWMAC foe No. 19 Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 7:00 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium, while Coast Guard hosts Babson College on the same night at the same time in conference play.
