Wheaton opens home slate with 81-76 victory against visiting Emerson

November 30, 2006

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team opened its home schedule by downing Emerson College, 81-76 on Thursday evening in Emerson Gymnasium behind senior Brian Zukowski's (Dracut, MA/Dracut) near triple-double. The host Lyons improved to 3-1, while the visiting Lions fell to 2-3 on the season.

Zukowski led all scorers with 23 points, including 17 after halftime, while shooting 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. Zukowski also hit 4-of-5 free throw attempts while turning in a career- and game-high eight assists with seven rebounds. He moved into seventh in program history with 1,080 career points, just eight shy of the sixth spot.

Emerson pulled out to an early 18-10 lead before the hosts responded, tallying 11 straight points and 32 of the next 42 over a 9:56 span to etch a 42-28 advantage 53 seconds into the second half. The visitors wasted no time rallying, netting eight straight points in 56 seconds to make it 42-36 at 18:04.

Wheaton's lead ballooned back out to as much as 10 with 14:40 remaining before the Lions slowly chipped away, finally drawing even at 61 on freshman Jeremy Shannon's (Lowell, MA/Canterbury School) three-pointer at 7:14. Shannon connected again 61 seconds later to give Emerson a 66-63 edge, its first lead since 23-21, and junior Ben Chase (Newburyport, MA/Newburyport) hit a pair of free throws for a 70-64 advantage with 5:09 showing on the clock.

From there, Wheaton netted 17 of the game's next 20 points, with Zukowski providing eight of those. Freshman Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) capped a stellar home debut with a go-ahead three-pointer at 3:25 and later dished to junior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover), who tallied the eventual game-winning basket with 2:13 to go and gave the Lyons a 73-72 edge.

Leo nailed 4-of-5 three-point attempts while contributing 16 points, including 13 in the first half, snagging five rebounds and blocking a pair of shots. DiGiovanna also tallied 16 points while knocking down 4-of-6 field goal attempts and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Junior Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) was the fourth Lyon in double figures, as he netted 11 while grabbing seven boards. Wheaton shot 52.6 percent, hitting 30-of-57 shots, including 7-of-16 from long range.

Emerson saw five players reach double digits, with Shannon leading the charge thanks to 17 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Freshman Bryan Rouse (East Greenwich, RI/Toll Gate) nearly collected a double-double thanks to 14 points and nine rebounds, while Chase also scored 14 points. Junior Will Dawkins (Springfield, MA/Commerce) and sophomore Morales Hendricks (Dorchester, MA/O'Bryant) each netted 10 points, as the Lions shot 26-of-66 for the game, including 11-of-34 from beyond the arc, while attempting more three-pointers than two-pointers.

Wheaton welcomes Bridgewater State College to Emerson Gymnasium on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/25/07.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

Coppola captures D3hoops.com regional rookie-of-the-year honor (more)

Coppola earns team's first league rookie honor, named to second team (more)

2008 NEWMAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT - Seventh-seeded Lyons unable to fend off third seed Coast Guard, 68-56 (more)

Upcoming Schedule

15-Nov Sat Plymouth St. Tip-Off A 7:30pm
16-Nov Sun Plymouth St. Tip-Off A TBA
18-Nov Tue Salve Regina A 7:00pm