NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team was unable to overcome a late second half surge in an 80-70 loss to visiting United States Coast Guard Academy this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 10-13 overall and 5-9 in NEWMAC play, while the Bears improve to 9-14 and 5-9.
Wheaton honored its four seniors in a pre-game ceremony, recognizing Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan), Duncan Bubar (Newton, Mass.), Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) and Tarmo Tari (Chelmsford, Mass.) prior to their last regular-season home contest for the Lyons.
Coast Guard shot 44.8% (30-67) from the field, including 9-22 (40.9%) from three-point range, while committing just nine turnovers, while Wheaton was 40.3% (25-62) from the floor. The Lyons held a 42-36 rebounding advantage, but the Bears made the most of their opportunities with an 8-3 margin in second chance points.
Sophomore guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) led all players with 22 points for Wheaton to go with six boards, three steals, a block and a game-high seven assists. Junior guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) contributed with 13 points, four rebounds and two assists and junior forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) chipped in with a game-best 11 rebounds in addition to four points, an assist and a steal.
Junior forward Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) netted 18 points to lead the Bears and was 2-3 from long range, while adding five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal for Coast Guard. Junior guard Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) scored 16 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-7 from three-point territory. In addition he grabbed three boards and handed out an assist. Senior center Cameron Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) came off the bench to score 12 points in 16 minutes and sparked the Bears' pivotal second-half run. He also added three rebounds and an assist.
Tari gave the Lyons a 55-51 advantage with a fastbreak layup at the 11:44 mark of the second half, but the Bears put together a devastating 18-6 stretch, fueled by eight points from Brown, to give the visitors the lead for good at 73-66 with 5:20 remaining in the contest. Wheaton scored the next four points, including a big triple from Morrissey to pull the Lyons to within 73-70, but it was as close as the home team would get. Wheaton missed just four free throws in the game, but they all came in the final five minutes of play. Coast Guard put the affair away with the final seven points for a 10-point win.
Wheaton took an early 13-9 lead at the 14:47 mark of the opening half, following a 9-2 run, including a three-pointer each from three of the seniors with Murphy, Tari and Thaher all hitting from long distance. The Bears reclaimed the lead with six straight points on a pair of quick threeballs from Parent, to give them a 15-13 margin with 14:12 to go in the half. The teams traded the lead three more times as part of a contest that saw 14 changes for the day. Wheaton went on a 10-5 burst, capped by a triple from Iafrate to break a tie and give the home team a 23-20 lead with 9:38 to play in the first stanza.
The Lyons later maintained a 33-29 lead with 4:53 showing on the first half clock following a 10-4 run paced by four points from Herry. Coast Guard responded with a 9-3 stretch, including four points from Farrell, to take a 38-36 margin at 2:26 of the half. Wheaton closed out the session with a 7-3 effort with Iafrate canning three straight free throws to give the Lyons a 43-41 halftime lead.
First year forward Rex Zadrozny (Cumberland, R.I.) knocked down a three-pointer to increase Wheaton's advantage to 49-45 to match the game's largest lead to that point with 17:49 remaining in the contest. The teams traded six-point outbursts with first year Sean Perri (West Roxbury, Mass.) drilling a trifecta at the 15:03 mark to restore the Lyons' four-point lead at 55-51.
The Bears return to the hardwood on Wednesday, February 19 when they host NEWMAC foe Salve Regina University for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off, while Wheaton heads to Boston, Mass. to take on league rival Emerson College on the same night at 7:00 p.m.
