ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team overcame host State University of New York Oneonta, 59-56, this evening in the first round of the Michael A. Freillich Classic at Dewar Arena in Oneonta, N.Y.
The Lyons improve to 2-1 on the season, while the Red Dragons fall to 1-1.
Both teams struggled from the floor with Wheaton shooting 36.7% (18-49), including 5-19 (26.3%) from three-point range, while Oneonta State hit just 37.7% (23-61) from the field and was just 28% (7-25) from long range.
Junior guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) led the Lyons with 15 points on 4-8 from the floor to go with two rebounds, an assist and a steal. Senior forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) scored 14 points, grabbed three rebounds and picked up a steal, while sophomore forward Rex Zadrozny (Cumberland, R.I.) chipped in with six rebounds and eight points on 3-4 from the field.
Junior swingman Kobe Long (Rochester, N.Y.) poured in a game-high 27 points, including four three-pointers, and added two rebounds, three assists and a block for the Red Dragons. Junior guard Nicholas Cortez (Harlem, N.Y.) dropped in 11 points, including a trio of triples, in addition to four rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. Sophomore Cam LaClair (Selkirk, N.Y.) contributed with eight points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Cortez scored six points and Long added five to fuel a 13-2 run to give Oneonta State its first lead of the second half at 51-50 after erasing a 10-point deficit. It was the home team's last lead of the night as Wheaton ripped off the next six points, including four free throws from Iafrate. The burst gave the Lyons a 56-51 margin with 1:45 left in the game. Long later completed a three-point play with a free throw to pull the Red Dragons within 57-56 with 51 seconds remaining, but it was as close as they would get for the rest of the evening.
Junior Markus Nordin (Wenham, Mass.) converted a layup to give Wheaton an early 14-13 edge. Oneonta State scored the next six points, including a pair of three-balls from Long to give the Red Dragons a 19-14 lead with 8:27 to go in the opening half. Sophomore guard Sean Perri (West Roxbury, Mass.) knocked down a trifecta and Morrissey made a layup to knot the game at 19-19 with 7:39 showing in the first half. Oneonta State answered with a three-pointer from Cortez and a layup from Long to take a 24-19 margin with 5:30 to play in the half. The Lyons closed out the half with an 11-4 stretch, paced by five points from Morrissey, to take a 30-28 margin into the break.
Wheaton opened the second stanza by scoring eight of the first 10 points, capped by a three-pointer from Iafrate to give the visitors a 38-30 cushion with 17:07 remaining in the contest. The Red Dragons responded in kind with an 8-2 stretch, led by four points from LaClair, to cut the deficit to 40-38 at the 15-minute mark of the second half. The Lyons scored eight straight points, including five points from Nordin, to give Wheaton its largest lead of the night at 48-38 with 8:25 showing on the second half clock.
The Lyons return to the court tomorrow when they take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the tournament's title game at 1:00 p.m. in Oneonta, N.Y., while Oneonta State plays Pennsylvania State University Altoona in the consolation contest at 3:00 p.m.
