Lyons go down in defeat at non-conference foe Tufts, 89-74

January 23, 2007

MEDFORD, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team was unable to overcome a 17-point halftime deficit at non-conference foe Tufts University Tuesday night, as the Lyons suffered an 89-74 setback to the Jumbos in Cousens Gymnasium. Wheaton slips to 9-8 overall, while Tufts improves its season record to 10-6.

Holding a pair of leads in the early going of the opening half while tying the score on five different occasions, the Lyons held tough for the first half of the stanza, as a lay-up from sophomore Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) cut Wheaton's deficit to 23-21 at 10:17. Michel scored six straight points for the Lyons and eight of the team's first 21. A three from senior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) at 8:31 kept the visitors within four, but Tufts scored the next seven points and went on a 19-4 run during a 4:49 stretch to hold a commanding 47-28 advantage with 3:13 to go. The hosts took a 52-35 lead into the locker room.

Tufts caught fire from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, knocking down nine of its 14 attempts while shooting 59.4 percent from the floor overall. Of the 19 field goals the Jumbos had, 15 of those were assisted. Junior Jake Weitzen (New York, NY/Bronx HS of Science) led the charge with 17 first-half points, hitting seven of eight shots with a trio of three-point buckets. Wheaton was held to just one three-pointer in the opening half, as the Lyons finished the frame shooting 42.4 percent from the field.

Zukowski's three-point play on the first possession of the second half pulled Wheaton within 14 at 52-38, but the hosts pushed their lead to 20 with 15:26 remaining. The Blue and White scored nine of the game's next 13 points to trim the gap to 66-51 at 12:42 before Tufts used a 20-8 spurt to put the game away for good. Trailing 88-61 at 4:47, the Lyons closed the game with a 13-1 run to account for the final margin. Freshman Jon Lecznar (Poland, ME/Poland Regional) scored six points, pulled down five boards and blocked two shots during the final 2:06.

Junior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) paced Wheaton with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Zukowski finished with 13 points, four assists and three steals. Michel tallied 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting with five rebounds, while junior Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) completed the double-digit scoring with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and six boards.

A dozen different players scored for the Jumbos, led by Weitzen's 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Senior David Shepherd (Grantham, NH/Proctor Academy) and junior Ryan O'Keefe (Everett, MA/Everett) each had 13 points, while sophomore Jon Pierce (Belmont, MA/Phillips Exeter Academy) added 11.

Wheaton resumes New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium against nationally-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at 2:00 p.m. Ranked 17th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, WPI has reeled off 11 straight victories.

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