NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team trailed by as many as 13, but scored 50 points in the second half and led by as many as 11 in an 81-75 victory over host United States Coast Guard Academy this evening in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Roland Gymnasium in New London, Conn.
The Lyons win their third straight and four of their last five to improve to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Bears fall to 4-7 and 0-3.
Wheaton dominated the glass by a 48-31 count, leading to 17 second chance points. The Lyons shot 43.8% (28-64) for the game, despite coming through on 26.9% (7-26) of their three-point tries. Coast Guard was 23-56 (41.1%) from the field and was even better from long range, hitting on 44.8% (13-29) of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) led all scorers with 23 points on 8-16 from the floor and added seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block for Wheaton, while senior forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) posted his third double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to go with an assist. Senior guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.) netted 12 points, grabbed seven boards, handed out a pair of assists and came up with a steal and first year guard Wyatt Benoit (Saco, Maine) came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points on 5-7 shooting in addition to four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.
Senior forward Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.) led the Bears with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds and added an assist and a game-high four blocks. Senior guard Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) contributed with 15 points, three rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists and senior guard Trevor Parks Clearwater, Fla. canned five three-pointers to give him 15 points to go with two rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.
Farrell knocked down a three-pointer for the fifth lead change in a span of nearly five minutes and a Coast Guard edge at 64-63 with 6:43 left in the second half. It was the last lead of the night for the Bears, before Pedevillano put the Lyons ahead for good with a three-ball to spark a 15-3 run, fueled by seven points from Benoit, to give the visitors a 78-67 advantage with 66 seconds remaining in the contest.
Coast Guard ripped off seven straight points, capped by a three-pointer from Parks to cut the deficit to 78-74 with 25 ticks showing on the second half clock, but the last gasp effort wasn't enough as Wheaton came away with the road victory.
Morrissey knocked down a jumper to pull the Lyons within 7-5 at the 15:05 mark of the opening half, but the Bears put together a blistering 10-1 stretch, in a span of just 1:45, behind a pair of triples from Parks, to give them a 17-6 cushion with 13:20 to go in the first stanza. Iafrate later buried a three to bring Wheaton within 17-11 with 11:53 left in the half, before an 11-4 run capped by a three-ball from senior guard Christian Rodgers gave Coast Guard its largest lead of the night at 28-15 with 9:13 to play in the half.
Farrell later converted a pair of free throws to maintain a 37-25 lead for the Bears with just under four minutes to go in the period, but the Lyons scored the last six points of the half, including four from Iafrate, to close within 37-31 at the intermission.
Morrissey made it a four-point game for Wheaton with a layup just 18 seconds into the second session to make it 37-33, but a trey from junior guard Walker Corbin (Weaverville, N.C.) bumped Coast Guard's lead back to 47-39 with 15:24 remaining in the contest.
The Lyons roared back with an 11-2 burst, punctuated by a three-point play from Iafrate, to give them a 50-49 lead with 11:23 to go in the game. It was their first lead since early in the opening half.
Wheaton returns to the hardwood on Saturday, January 10 when it hosts NEWMAC rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Emerson Gymnasium for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off, while the Bears host league foe Babson College on the same day at the same time.
