Lyons suffer first loss of season against undefeated Emerson

November 29, 2007

BOSTON, MA- In a meeting of undefeated men's basketball teams, Wheaton College was denied its first 4-0 start in five years after suffering an 84-63 loss to Emerson College on Thursday at Piano Row Gymnasium. The Lyons fell to 3-1, while the host Lions are now 5-0.

During the first 13-plus minutes of the contest, the teams stayed close, as a 14-9 Emerson lead at 12:49 was the largest gap between a pair of squads that played through eight lead changes in that span. Junior Mark Sullivan (West Roxbury, MA/Catholic Memorial) had a hand in each of Wheaton's final two one-point leads, laying in a bucket at 9:04 that made it 15-14 before dishing to senior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) for a go-ahead hoop at 7:58 that put the Lyons up, 17-16.

The eighth lead swap led to a permanent change to the complexion of the contest, as Emerson used a 20-7 run over a 7:16 span to take a 36-24 advantage 21 seconds before halftime. Wheaton trailed by a 38-26 count at the intermission despite shooting 40.7 percent, as the hosts connected on 51.5 percent of their attempts.

Emerson shot 61.5 percent in the second half to Wheaton's 37.5 percent showing, as the Lions completed a 10-of-11 shooting stretch that carried over from the first half by forging ahead, 56-36 at the 14:33 mark of the final stanza on sophomore Jeremy Shannon's (Lowell, MA/Canterbury School) three-point play. The Lyons tallied the next seven points, but the hosts responded with a 14-2 run to go up 70-45 at 7:16.

DiGiovanna finished with 13 points and a game-high-tying eight rebounds, while freshmen Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) and Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) had 12 and 11 points, respectively. Junior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) turned in eight points and seven rebounds in 11 minutes, while first-year point guard Bud Gaffney (Berkley, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) led the Lyons with six assists and matched Coppola with three steals.

Sophomore Bryan Rouse (East Greenwich, RI/Toll Gate) turned in 21 points and eight rebounds for Emerson, while senior Will Dawkins (Springfield, MA/Commerce) had 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Classmate Ben Chase (Newburyport, MA/Newburyport) contributed 14 points and eight boards, while Shannon notched 11 points. For the game, the Lions shot 55.9 percent.

The Lyons continue their stretch of playing eight out of nine games on the road by traveling to Bridgewater State College on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. contest.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 11/30/07.
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