BOSTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team was defeated at host Emerson College, 79-76, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Brown & Plofker Gymnasium in Boston, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in league play, while the Lions improve to 4-3 and a perfect 2-0.
Emerson was outstanding from three-point range, knocking down 11 of 21 from beyond the arc for a 52.4% success rate as part of a 50% (25-50) overall shooting effort for the afternoon. The Lions out-rebounded Wheaton, 36-25. The Lyons shot 42.9% (21-49) from the floor, including 7-25 (28%) from three-point territory.
Senior guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) led Wheaton with 23 points on 4-8 shooting, including 3-7 from long range, in addition to pulling down three rebounds, handing out two assists, blocking a shot and coming up with a steal. Junior guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) scored 21 points on 7-12 from the field, grabbed a rebound to go with game highs of six assists and five steals. Senior forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points on 3-6 from the floor, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Sophomore guard Hank Gramlich (Dallas, Texas) did not miss a shot in 23 minutes off the bench for Emerson, going 4-4 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers and was 3-3 from the free throw line to go with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Senior guard Brendan McNamara (Arlington, Mass.) contributed with 13 points and four assists, while junior guard Guillermo Gasset Ruiz (Malaga, Spain) netted 12 points, hitting four of five trifectas, and added three rebounds and a pair of assists.
McNamara converted a layup to give the home team a 67-61 lead with 7:07 to go in the game. The Lyons roared back with an 11-3 stretch, paced by five points from Herry and four from Morrissey, to take a 72-70 margin with 2:59. The teams traded leads three times before the final horn sounded. Emerson junior forward Shay Roban (Roslyn Heights, N.Y.) and Wheaton junior Markus Nordin (Wenham, Mass.) traded triples to keep the Lyons' two-point lead intact (75-73) with 2:23 showing on the second half clock. Senior guard Jacob Armant (Arlington, Texas) drilled a three-pointer to give the Lions the lead for good at 76-75 with 2:02 to play in the game. Emerson held Wheaton scoreless over the next 69 seconds with the Lyons missing four field goal attempts. McNamara converted a pair of free throws during the stretch and Herry made one of two tries with 53 ticks left in the contest to make it 78-76 in favor of the Lions. McNamara was fouled with five seconds left in the game and converted the first free throw. He was off the mark with the second try, before Wheaton came up with the rebound, but there was just a half second remaining in the contest. The Lyons were unable to get off a final shot and Emerson took the win.
Wheaton got out to an early 7-2 lead, including five points from sophomore guard Sean Perri (West Roxbury, Mass.). Emerson put together a 14-2 run, sparked by a trio of three-pointers from Gasset Ruiz, to take a 16-9 margin. The Lyons came back with a 12-5 stretch, led by six points from Iafrate, to pull even at 21-21 with 6:51 remaining in the opening half. The Lions scored seven of the next eight points, capped by a jumper from sophomore forward Giulio Volonte (Milan, Italy), to take a 28-22 lead with 4:13 left in the half. Iafrate later drained a jump shot to cut the deficit to 34-31 with 56 seconds to play in the session for the Blue and White. Graduate student Asher Gardiner (Christchurch, New Zealand) and McNamara made back-to-back layups to close the half and give Emerson a 38-31 halftime cushion.
Senior center Linus Helmhold (Krefeld, Germany) knocked down a trey to maintain the Lions' lead at 50-42 with 15:46 to go in the game. Wheaton reclaimed the advantage following a 12-2 burst, fueled by seven points from Herry and five from Iafrate, at 54-52 with 12:51 showing in the second half. The Lions came back with an 11-3 run, including five points from Gramlich, to take a 63-57 margin with 8:49 remaining in the contest.
The Lyons return to action on Sunday, December 28 to take on Middlebury College at 3:00 p.m. in the Dr. Carol V. De Costa/Go 4 the Goal Tournament, hosted by Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y., while Emerson heads to Bridgewater, Mass. to play Bridgewater State University on December 10 at 6:00 p.m.
