NORTON, Mass. — Junior guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) poured in a career-high 27 points to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team over visiting Springfield College, 78-64, this evening in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Pride dip to 2-5 and 0-1.
Both teams shot the ball well with Wheaton owning a 51.8% (29-56) clip, while Springfield owned a 54.2% (26-48) shooting mark. The Lyons held a 29-22 rebounding margin and outscored the Pride, 23-14, in points off turnovers. Wheaton committed just 11 miscues during the game.
Iafrate was an efficient 10-14 from the floor to go with six rebounds, two steals and a game-high five assists for the Lyons. Sophomore forward Rex Zadrozny (Cumberland, R.I.) netted a career-high 16 points on 7-12 from the field and added five boards, an assist and a steal in 23 minutes of action, while senior guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.) came off the bench to drop in 13 points on 4-6 shooting, including 3-4 from three-point range, in addition to six rebounds and a steal.
Sophomore guard Zachary Campbell (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored 11 points on 5-6 from the floor and added two rebounds, two assists and a block and senior guard John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, four assists and a rebound for Springfield. Junior guard Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) contributed with 10 points on 4-8 from the field, handed out two assists, came up with a pair of steals and blocked a shot.
Campbell made a jumper off a Wheaton turnover to pull the Pride within 53-52 with 12:38 showing on the second half clock. It was as close as they would come for the remainder of the contest. The Lyons put together a dominant 20-3 stretch over the next 9:25, fueled by seven points from Pedevillano, to put the game away at 73-55 with 3:13 left to play in the game.
Springfield never got closer than within 14 points for the rest of the game.
The teams played within four minutes of each other through the first 12-plus minutes of the game with the visitors' only lead coming at 13-12 following a Livingston triple at the 15:11 mark of the first session. The Pride stayed within 21-20 after a single free throw from senior center Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 11:24 to play in the half.
Wheaton went on a 10-4 burst, capped by a layup from Zadrozny to give the home team a 31-24 advantage with 7:02 to go in the first half. Springfield battled back within three with six of the next eight points, including a layup from senior forward Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ont.), to make it 33-30 with 5:31 showing on the clock. The Lyons answered with six straight points on three-point plays from Zadrozny and Iafrate to increase their cushion to 39-30 with 4:44 left in the first period.
Sophomore guard Cedric Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) made it a five-point game for the Pride with a driving layup with under four minutes remaining, before Iafrate scored all seven points during a 7-2 blitz that gave Wheaton its largest lead of the half at 46-36 with 27 ticks left before halftime. Paulino buried a trifecta for the final points of the half to keep it a single-digit deficit for Springfield at 46-39.
Livingston drained a three-ball as the Pride scored the first five points of the second half to cut the difference to 46-44 with 18:14 left in the second stanza and later closed within a point on the Livingston layup with twelve and a half minutes to go in the game.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, December 6 when they head to Boston, Mass. to take on NEWMAC rival Emerson College at 1:00 p.m., while Springfield hosts league foe United States Coast Guard Academy on December 10 at 7:00 p.m.
