Wheaton drops second straight, falls in non-conference affair to Tufts

January 12, 2008

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team lost for just the second time in eight games on Saturday, dropping an 89-75 decision to visiting Tufts University in Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons, now 9-3, had lost only once at home by more than 11 points since 2003 and were playing their first game in Emerson Gym since December 4 following a five-game road swing. The Jumbos won their second straight in improving to 8-4.

Freshman Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) gave Wheaton a quick 3-0 lead by connecting from beyond the arc 17 seconds in, but Tufts responded with the next 12 points, half of which came off the hand of junior Aaron Gallant (Bangor, ME/Bangor), by 16:36.

The Lyons crept to within 14-9, making it a five-point game when sophomore Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) canned a three from the corner at 15:00. From there, the Jumbos scored 11 straight over 1:49, as three different players hit three-pointers. With his team up by a 40-24 count, Tufts junior Jon Pierce (Belmont, MA/Phillips Exeter Academy) scored eight consecutive points to give the visitors a 24-point lead with 3:11 to go in the stanza.

Wheaton finished the half on a 12-4 run, making its deficit 52-36 by intermission. The Jumbos, who started the game by hitting their first four three-point attempts and went 8-of-10 from the field during the opening 6:42, shot 67.9 percent in the first half by going 19-of-28 overall and 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Six different Jumbos hit a three, and they also held a 19-11 advantage in rebounding. The Lyons committed only eight turnovers to Tufts' 11 and shot 43.8 percent.

In the first minute of the second half, junior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) and freshman Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) each provided Wheaton buckets to bring the Lyons within 52-40, but Tufts later put together a 14-2 run over 3:02 behind scoring from four different players.

Wheaton trailed by as many as 25 points in the second half, at 71-46 with 15:01 to go, and continued to trail by more than 17 until less than seven minutes remained, as the Lyons twice closed the gap to 12 but came no closer. The Blue and White committed only four turnovers in the second half but shot 3-of-18 from deep. The Jumbos were similarly cold, going 1-of-7.

Michel led the Lyons with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, adding five rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Freshman Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI/East Providence) accounted for 13 points, while Coppola had 12. Leo tallied nine points and nine boards, while Sasso notched eight points and four assists. Wheaton ended up shooting 41.9 percent, including 6-of-26 from three, and committed only 12 turnovers but hit just 7-of-13 free throw tries.

Pierce provided Tufts with 27 points and 10 rebounds, going 9-of-19 from the field and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Dave Beyel (Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City) had 13 points off the bench, while senior Jeremy Black (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) turned in 11 points and eight assists. Senior Jake Weitzen (New York, NY/Bronx High School of Science) recorded 10 points and 12 boards, and Gallant finished with 10 points. The Jumbos shot 33.3 percent in the second half to finish at 49.2 percent for the game.

The Lyons return to the road on Wednesday with a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest at Babson College at 7:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/12/08.
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