NORTON, Mass. — Junior guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) was nearly perfect, making all but one shot on the night, en-route to a game-high 27 points to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team to an emphatic 78-63 victory over visiting United States Coast Guard Academy this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in league play, while the Bears fall to 6-12 and 2-8.
Wheaton's record is its best through the first 19 games of the season since it posted a 15-4 mark in 2004-05.
The Lyons shot a season-high 56.4% (31-55) from the floor, but was just 10-18 (55.6%) from the free throw line. Wheaton's transition offense produced a 22-2 point-differential in fast-break points. Coast Guard was held to just 35% (21-60) from the field, but made its bones at the free throw line, making 13 of 15 tries (86.7).
Iafrate posted video game-like numbers, shooting 10-11 from the floor, including 2-2 from three-point range and was a perfect 5-5 from the line for the Lyons. He finished a rebound short of a double-double with nine and added six assists and seven steals to tie Sean Kelly and Rob Tyson for the fourth-most thefts in a game at Wheaton. Seniors Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) and Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) joined sophomore forward Rex Zadrozny (Cumberland, R.I.) with 11 points each. Morrissey finished with nine boards as well to go with two steals and an assist, while Herry was 4-8 from the floor, pulled down four rebounds, handed out two assists, picked up two steals and blocked a shot. Zadrozny was 5-6 shooting and added four rebounds.
Senior forward Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) led the Bears with 23 points, including a 12-13 effort from the free throw line in addition to ripping down 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year. Senior guard Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) netted 14 points, pulled down two rebounds and dished for an assist.
Wheaton opened up a 15-4 lead with six different scorers contributing, including Iafrate who capped the opening burst with a three-point play at the 14:35 mark of the half. Coast Guard sophomore guard Aiden Dabbondanza made a free throw to complete a three-point play of his own to bring the deficit back to single digits at 15-7. The Lyons put together another suffocating run at 15-3 over the next four and a half minutes, fueled by eight points from Iafrate, to give the home team a commanding 30-10 advantage with 9:32 showing on the first half clock.
Wheaton maintained its cushion over the next five and a half minutes and took its largest lead of the night when Herry made a layup to give the Lyons a 41-19 lead with 3:55 left in the half. The Bears tallied seven of the final nine points of the stanza, including five from Farrell, to pull within 43-26 at the intermission.
Farrell continued to heat up for the visitors, drilling a three-ball to open the second session to make it 43-29 and later made a layup to keep Coast Guard within 49-35 at the 16:58 mark of the second half. Wheaton never trailed in the game and asserted itself with an 11-4 stretch, capped by a jumper from senior guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.), to give the home team a 60-39 advantage with 12:03 remaining in the contest.
The Bears remained resilient, ripping off nine straight points, including back-to-back triples from Parent, to cut the difference to 60-48 with 9:11 left to play. Senior guard Trevor Parks (Clearwater, Fla.) later canned a three-pointer of his own to keep the visitors within a dozen at 66-54 with 4:39 showing. Any hope of a Coast Guard comeback was dashed following a 12-2 outburst by the Lyons to match their largest lead at 78-56 with 2:29 left in the game.
The Bears scored the final seven points of the night to set the final at 78-63.
Wheaton returns to the hardwood on Saturday, January 31 when it hosts Emerson College for a 1:00 p.m. NEWMAC tilt in Emerson Gymnasium, while Coast Guard hosts conference rival Springfield College on the same day at the same time.
