Defending ECAC champion Wheaton garners fourth straight tournament berth, Lyons set to host Emmanuel in first round

February 27, 2006

NORTON, MA- The defending Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) champion Wheaton College men's basketball team learned of its fourth straight Division III New England Regional Tournament berth Monday morning, as the Lyons are set to begin defense of their title as the number-six seed against third-seeded Emmanuel College. Qualifying for the ECAC Tournament for the sixth time over the last eight seasons, Wheaton will host the Saints Wednesday night in Emerson Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m. Emmanuel did not put in to host when declaring for the ECAC Tournament.

Wheaton's ECAC Tournament bid is the eighth in the 17-year history of the program and sixth under ninth-year head coach Brian Walmsley. With a 7-6 record in tournament play, the Lyons have advanced to the ECAC title game in each of the last two seasons. Wheaton enters this year's tourney with a 16-10 mark after reaching the semifinal of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament. Wheaton defeated Springfield College, 82-78 in Tuesday's first round game before falling at top seed Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 81-67 on Saturday. Emmanuel is one of three ECAC teams to reach the 20-win plateau, boasting a 20-7 record after advancing to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament semifinal. Wednesday's game will mark the first meeting between the two teams.

Keene State College was selected as the tournament's top seed at 20-7 and is matched up against number-eight seed Colby-Sawyer College (17-10). Other first round games include a pair of NEWMAC teams, with second seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (20-8) hosting seventh-seeded Plymouth State University (16-10) and number five United States Coast Guard Academy (17-8) traveling to fourth-seeded Rhode Island College (17-9). Wheaton and Rhode Island College met for the ECAC Championship last year in Norton. The opening round winners will advance to Friday's semifinals at the higher of the two seeds, with the semifinal round victors scheduled to meet in the championship on Saturday at the highest remaining seed.

Senior point guard and 2005 ECAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) leads Wheaton into action just 11 points shy of becoming the school's 10th member of the 1,000-point club. Among the national leaders in both assists and steals averages, Kelly paces the NEWMAC in those respective categories in addition to ranking 11th in scoring with 12.8 points per game and 15th in rebounding at 4.7 boards per contest. Kelly is joined in the starting backcourt by senior James Greenslit (Framingham, MA/Rivers School) and junior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut).

Greenslit is Wheaton's top three-point shooting threat and ranks third in the conference with a 42.9 percent clip, while Zukowski paces the Lyons in both scoring and rebounding with 16.7 and 5.7 averages, respectively. Entering Wednesday's contest 75 points shy of scoring 1,000 for his career, Zukowski stands fourth in the NEWMAC in scoring and three-point field goals made, seventh in steals, eighth in assists, and ninth in rebounding and three-point field goal percentage.

Wheaton's frontcourt features sophomore Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover), who is coming off a career-best 20-point performance against WPI in the conference tournament, and classmate Jake Otto (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury). DiGiovanna is listed as the NEWMAC's third-best shooter from the field at 55.0 percent in addition to ranking 13th in rebounding with 4.8 boards and 15th in scoring at 11.2 points, while Otto has started four of the last five games, including posting a career-high 13-point showing versus Springfield last week. Sophomore Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) and freshman Kristopher Pedra (Avon, CT/Avon) round out the team's leading scoring contingent with 6.8 point averages, respectively.

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