2007 NEWMAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT - Wheaton advances to eighth semifinal in nine years with 61-54 win at Springfield

February 21, 2007

SPRINGFIELD, MA- Senior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) became the fifth Wheaton College men's basketball player to surpass 1,400 career points on Wednesday night at Springfield College, as his 28-point effort led the sixth-seeded Lyons to a 61-54 victory over the number-three Pride in the opening round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament at Blake Arena.

Making the most semifinal round appearances of any of the seven teams in the conference with this being its eighth in the nine-year history of the NEWMAC, Wheaton is paired up against number seven United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at 2:00 p.m. The seventh-seeded Bears upset second seed Babson College, 70-66 earlier tonight. The Lyons snapped their five-game losing skid to improve to 11-14, while Springfield finishes its season at 12-14.

In a low-scoring first half that saw neither team shoot above 24.0 percent, Wheaton held the Pride to a season-low-tying 16 points but still trailed 16-15 at the half despite opening its first two possessions with buckets. Junior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) and Zukowski drained a pair of jumpers 54 seconds apart and, following four Springfield points, sophomore Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) hit a jump shot for a 6-4 edge at 14:16.

DiGiovanna hit a free throw at 8:10, as Wheaton didn't score its next bucket until the 5:47 mark, when junior Jake Otto (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) made a lay-up to narrow the Lyon deficit to 14-9. Junior Gregg Daly (Farmington, CT/Farmington) extended Springfield's lead to 16-9 at 4:45, but the Pride didn't score again until the 17:28 mark of the second half, as Zukowski tallied six straight points to close the half.

Otto's lay-up with 19:11 to play provided the visitors with a 17-16 edge before four lead changes and two ties transpired over a 5:26 span. Sophomore Kristopher Pedra (Avon, CT/Avon) contributed seven points in that stretch for the Lyons, including back-to-back threes 45 seconds apart for a 23-19 Wheaton advantage. His free throw at 13:47 put the Blue and White in front by one, but two Daly freebies 16 seconds later regained the lead for Springfield.

However, sophomore Mark Sullivan (West Roxbury, MA/Catholic Memorial) stole the ball at 12:04 and converted a fast-break lay-up for a Lyon advantage that was not relinquished. The Sullivan hoop was the start of a 15-3 Wheaton run, as the visitors held the game's biggest lead at 39-28 with just over six minutes to go. Michel and Sullivan each dumped in five points during the 5:53 span, while Zukowski's three at 6:09 capped the run. Zukowski carried the Lyons from that point forward, exploding for 20 points in just under six minutes.

After a 9-0 Springfield run that made the score 39-37, Zukowski canned a three at 4:01, added a jumper at 3:24, knocked down another long-range shot at 1:50 and made 9-of-10 free throw tries in a 1:00 span to complete his 28-point night. He went 7-of-12 from the field, 4-of-7 from three-point territory and 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Michel, Otto and Pedra each finished with seven points, with Michel and freshman Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) sharing the rebounding duties with seven and six, respectively. Wheaton shot 47.8 percent from the field in the second half and 75.0 percent from the free throw line on 24 attempts.

Freshman Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, NY/Sleepy Hollow) led the Pride with 14 points and six rebounds. Daly posted a double-double of 13 points and a game-best 11 rebounds, while senior Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) finished his career with seven points, five boards and four assists.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/22/07.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Upcoming Schedule

4-Dec Thu Roger Williams H 6:00pm
(Live Stats)
6-Dec Sat Bridgewater State H 3:00pm
(Live Audio)
29-Dec Mon SUNY New Paltz N 8:00pm