ECAC DIVISION III MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT - Wheaton becomes first New England team in 10 seasons to capture back-to-back championships, Zukowski named tourney's most outstanding player

March 4, 2006

PROVIDENCE, RI- The Wheaton College men's basketball team became the first New England team to capture back-to-back Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament championships in 10 seasons Saturday night at the Murray Center, as the sixth-seeded Lyons knocked off number four Rhode Island College, 83-78 for the second successive season.

Defeating three higher seeds along the way to win the title, the Blue and White downed the Anchormen, 78-66 during the 2005 championship at Wheaton's Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons finish their season at 19-10, which ties for the third-most wins in program history, while RIC also closes their campaign with a 19-10 mark.

Wheaton junior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut), who was named the tournament's most outstanding player following his career-high tying 29-point performance, hit for a career-best seven three-pointers on 10 attempts to go along with four assists and two steals. Entering the tournament needing 75 points to become Wheaton's 11th member of the 1,000-point club, Zukowski finished with 73, including 16 against Emmanuel College and 28 versus Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

A pair of seniors closed out their careers with memorable games, as point guard Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) returned to his hometown with a record-setting performance. Kelly's 13 assists on the night set a Wheaton single-game record in addition to breaking his single-season assists mark. Kelly was one point shy of recording a double-double while his three steals gave him 100 for the season. He made 4-of-8 shots from the field and pulled down six rebounds.

Classmate James Greenslit (Framingham, MA/Rivers School) also grabbed six boards, but it was his clutch three-point shooting that helped make the difference. Greenslit's 16 points included four threes on six attempts, while sophomore Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) rounded out Wheaton's double-figure scoring with 13 points.

The Lyons turned in one of the top shooting performances in program history, going 13-of-21 from three-point territory and 30-of-52 from the field. Wheaton's 61.9 percent three-point shooting ties for sixth in the school's annals and its 13 made threes are tied for fourth highest. The Blue and White finished the game shooting a season-best 57.7 percent from the field compared to RIC's 41.7 percent clip. The Anchormen made only five of 27 three-point field goals. Of Wheaton's 30 field goals, 24 of them were credited with assists.

Wheaton led for the majority of the game, building a 14-point cushion at one point. The Anchormen battled back to cut the Lyons' lead to two on a junior guard Kinsey Durgin (Greenwood, ME/Telstar) three-pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation.

Zukowski went 4-of-4 over the final 24 seconds from the free throw line, while sophomore forward Jake Otto (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe the final 14 seconds to seal the victory.

Durgin had 17 points to lead the Anchormen. Freshmen Tirrell Hill (Bronx, NY/All Hallows) and Kaseem Johnson (New Haven, CT/Hillhouse) each had 10 points in a losing effort.

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