Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (5-2) Finishes Semester on Strong Note with Victory at Roger Williams

The Wheaton College men's basketball team finished its first semester of play this week, as the Lyons split a pair of non-conference games. Seeing its four-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday, Wheaton suffered a hard-fought 93-85 double-overtime loss to Endicott College in Emerson Gym. The Lyons responded on Thursday and collected a 57-50 road win at Roger Williams University.

Against Endicott, the Lyons and Gulls battled through 20 ties, 13 lead changes and two overtime periods. Down 32-27 with a few minutes left in the first stanza, senior Scott Mahan (Bridgewater, MA/Cardinal Spellman) and junior Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael's) hit back-to-back jumpers to bring Wheaton to within one. After an Endicott bucket, Vega eluded his defender and dropped a three-point basket to tie the game with under a minute to go. Mahan closed out the half with two more points to give Wheaton a 36-34 edge heading into the break. With the Lyons maintaining a 65-60 lead with a pair of free throws at the 2:02 minute mark of the second stanza, the Gulls sunk a three to bring the visitors within two with 1:34 left on the clock. Endicott converted a pair of late free throws to send the game into overtime knotted at 65-65. In the first overtime, foul trouble set in for Wheaton, but the Lyons continued to ride the shooting of the hot-handed Vega. Down 75-73 with the shot clock off, Vega used a lay-up to send the game into a second extra session. Witnessing an Endicott three-point basket to begin the second overtime followed by two additional Wheaton players fouling out, the Lyons were stranded with five healthy players the remainder of the period. The Gulls however were relentless from the free throw line, hitting eleven consecutive freebies over the two overtime periods and 7-of-8 in the second overtime, to seal the victory. Vega was the game's high-scorer with career-best totals of 37 points, 16 free throws and 20 free throw attempts. Mahan scored 22 points (7-11 FG, 8-10 FT) with a game-high tying nine boards, while Whall added 14 points and nine rebounds.

At Roger Williams, the Lyons held the Hawks to 14 second-half points and in the process collected their fifth win of the young season. Wheaton was led by Mahan, who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The two teams had seven ties and four lead changes in the first half. The Hawks knocked down 7-of-13 three-point buckets as a team, heading into the locker room with a slim 36-34 lead. The momentum in the second half shifted to visiting Wheaton, as the Lyons took control of the game. Wheaton led for nearly the entire second half, with the Hawks trying frantically to stay in the game. A pair of free throws with 14:38 to go pulled RWU within one at 41-40, but that's as close as the hosts would get the rest of the way. Mahan and Vega combined for eight points, as the Lyons went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to extend their double-figure lead to 51-40. Despite shooting 6-of-24 (.250) from the field in the second half, the Hawks refused to quit. A couple minutes following the Wheaton run, Roger Williams went on its own 8-0 spurt, trimming the Lyon lead to three with 2:22 remaining. Unfortunately for RWU, it wasn't enough as Mahan came up big in the clutch, making all four of his free throws in the final minute, as the Lyons went on to capture the seven-point victory.

Women's Basketball (3-4) Posts 1-1 Week to Finish Semester, Stuns Salem State

The Wheaton College women's basketball team posted a 1-1 week to close its first semester of action under first-year head coach Melissa Hodgdon. The Lyons dropped a 57-27 decision to Fitchburg State College to begin the week and then upset regional power Salem State College, 58-57 on Thursday in Emerson Gym. Wheaton hadn't defeated the Vikings since the 1995-96 season.

At Fitchburg State, the Lyons produced one of their lowest point totals in program history Monday night. The first half saw both teams struggle offensively, as Fitchburg State carried a 22-13 advantage into the break. The Lyons were held to four field goals in the opening half, one three-point field goal and four free throws, while the Falcons didn't fare much better, totaling six field goals, a pair of three-point baskets and eight freebies. In the second stanza, the hosts pulled away from Wheaton for good, as the Blue and White witnessed a similar shooting performance in the final twenty minutes of regulation. Fitchburg State outscored the Lyons, 35-14 in the second stanza and more than doubled Wheaton's field goal and free throw totals. Senior Taryn Brassil (Holyoke, MA/Holyoke) was the lone double-figure scorer, totaling 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Versus Salem, senior Amanda Dow-Allen (Greenfield, MA/Stoneleigh-Burnham) sunk her second three-pointer of the first half to move the score to 16-13 and Wheaton held that lead for the remainder of the period. Junior Deverie Stover (Kingston, NY/Hawthorne Valley) recorded three of Wheaton's 10 steals, grabbed seven rebounds and scored 12 points, most of which came in the closing minutes of the stanza to put the Lyons up 27-24. Dow-Allen hit two freebies to close out the half for a 29-24 Wheaton lead. In the second half, Stover netted two buckets, followed by a Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) three, capping a 14-2 Wheaton stretch that began in the first half. Salem State got to within 10 points, but Williams nailed another trey to put the Lyons up 39-26 with 16 minutes to go. Wheaton slowly let its lead slip away over the next several minutes, as the Vikings went on a 13-3 run to tie the contest at 47 points apiece with seven minutes to play. With the Lyons in front 58-52 with under a minute to go, Salem sunk a three and got fouled in the process. The free throw attempt missed, but the Vikings grabbed the rebound and hit the lay-up to trail 58-57 with 36 seconds left. Despite missing two freebies in the closing seconds, the Lyons held on as Dow-Allen punched the final in-bound pass out of reach as time expired. Wheaton had four players in double figures, led by Stover's third career double-double with a career high-tying 20 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. Dow-Allen posted 13 points, while Williams and Brassil added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Men's (3-3) and Women's Swimming (5-1) Falls to MIT in Final Meet of First Semester

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving teams wrapped up their first semester of competition Friday night in Balfour Natatorium, as the Lyons were swept by New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe MIT. The Wheaton women suffered their first loss of the season with a 169-114 setback, while the men evened their record with a 153-106 loss.

Freshman Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering) paced the men with a multiple-event win performance, as he captured both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. He posted a time of 22.06 in the 50, tying his school-record finish from earlier in the year, and 48.93 in the 100. Senior co-captain Chris Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) rounded out the swim victories for the men with the top finish in the 100-yard backstroke in 56.81. On the platform, junior Aaron Beaulieu (Freeport, ME/Freeport) swept the one- and three-meter diving events, recording scores of 181.57 and 193.05, respectively.

First-year Colleen Smith (Milford, CT/Lauralton Hall) led the women in both the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle relay events. She earned top honors in the 100 fly with a time of 1:03.27 and then triggered the winning 200-yard free finish of 1:48.99. Joining Smith was sophomore Lauren Pcholinski (Old Saybrook, CT/Old Saybrook) and freshmen Kristen Behrens (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge) and Cassie Bohn (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa).

Smith also helped the 200-yard medley relay team to a season-best time of 1:58.58. In addition to Smith, Bohn, senior co-captain Katie Levine (Needham, MA/Needham) and junior Blake Worrall (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) rounded out the foursome. Other top performances came from freshman Katie McNicholas (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxboro), who was a mere 17-hundredths of a second off the seven-year school record in the 400-yard individual medley. Her time of 4:56.38 was all the more impressive knowing that tonight's race was only the second time that McNicholas has swam the event.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/30/07.
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