Men's basketball seeks third league title game appearance in six years

February 22, 2007

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team is set for a return trip to Worcester for the sixth time in seven seasons, as the Lyons are in search of their third New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship game appearance at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Harrington Auditorium this weekend.

Sixth-seeded Wheaton, which knocked off number three Springfield College, 61-54 last night, will face seventh seed United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The meeting will mark the first time in which the lowest two seeds square off in NEWMAC Tournament history. With fifth seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also advancing, the Engineers play WPI in the other semifinal at 12:00 p.m. Sunday's title game is set for a 12:00 p.m. start.

Wheaton and Coast Guard haven't met in a semifinal but saw each other in back-to-back first round games in 2002 and 2003, with the Lyons winning each time. The two teams split their regular season meetings, each winning on their home courts to leave the all-time series mark at 11-8 in Wheaton's favor. The Bears posted a 69-56 victory in New London, Connecticut, on January 9, while the Lyons edged out Coast Guard, 60-59 in Norton on January 20.

Having been the only squad in the seven-team league to hold the distinction of advancing to eight semifinal rounds in the nine-year history of the NEWMAC, Wheaton is 9-8 in league tournament play heading into this weekend's action. The Lyons have recorded an 11-14 mark overall after going 3-9 in conference play. Entering the week, the Blue and White ranked third in the nation in free throw percentage. The Lyons were also second in the conference in opponent rebounds per game and third in three-point field goal percentage.

Wheaton has been led by senior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut), who on Wednesday became the fifth men's hoops player to surpass 1,400 career points. Zukowski racked up 28 points at Springfield, including scoring 20 of his team's final 25 points. He leads the Lyons in scoring with 16.4 points per game, assists (114), steals (42) and free throw percentage (86.8%), and is among the league's elite in six statistical categories. For his career, Zukowski is ranked in the top five in program history for points, field goals, three-pointers, free throws, assists and steals while becoming the school's first player to surpass 1,350 points, 400 rebounds, 250 assists and 150 steals.

Juniors Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) and Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) round out Wheaton's double-figure scorers with 11.6 and 11.1 points, respectively. Johnston has shot 52.0 percent from the floor and 74.6 percent from the foul line, while DiGiovanna paces the Lyons in rebounding with 5.1 boards per game while shooting 83.7 percent from the charity stripe. Freshman Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) averages 7.6 points and is third in assists and steals.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/22/07.
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