Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (9-3, 1-1) Splits at Holiday Tournament, Opens League Play

The Wheaton College men's basketball team completed the 2005 calendar year by splitting a pair of games at a holiday tournament before posting a 1-1 mark in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action during the first week of conference play. The Lyons extended their winning streak to six games by defeating Neumann College of Pennsylvania, 67-60 on Thursday, December 29 in the first round of the Weenie Miller Holiday Hoops Tournament in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia before falling the next day to nationally-ranked Hampden-Sydney College, 85-71. This past Thursday, Wheaton opened its NEWMAC schedule by rolling up a 90-65 win at Clark University before losing to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 69-66 on Saturday.

Despite a 19-day hiatus, the Lyons didn't miss a beat against Neumann. Wheaton twice etched an 11-point first-half edge and took a 34-26 lead into the locker room. Neumann drew within three points with 13:36 remaining, but the Lyons used an 11-1 run to lead by 14 points with just over a minute left. Senior Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) led all scorers with 15 points while posting 10 rebounds and a game-best six assists, junior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) added 13 points and 12 boards, and freshman Kristopher Pedra (Avon, CT/Avon) finished with 11 points.

Wheaton fell to 9-0 Hampden-Sydney, which was ranked 19th nationally by D3hoops.com. After a tightly-contested opening 14 minutes, Hampden-Sydney built upon a 29-25 advantage with a 13-0 run and eventually led, 44-32 at halftime. Down by as many as 20 points early in the final stanza, Wheaton capped a 10-0 run with 7:50 to go by pulling within 66-57, but the Lyons drew no closer. Zukowski recorded a team-high 19 points and six rebounds, Kelly had nine points, seven assists and six boards, and Pedra added 14 points. Zukowski and Kelly were each named to the all-tournament team.

Against Clark, Pedra began a big night by hitting a three-pointer to give Wheaton the lead for good just 34 seconds after tip-off. With the Lyons up, 27-19, and 9:16 remaining in the opening period, the Blue and White put the game out of reach with a 33-3 run over a 10:36 span that stretched into the second half. Pedra turned in the best performance of his young career, recording a season-high 26 points in 22 minutes on 9-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. His point total was the highest for a Wheaton freshman since Bill O'Brien '00 also collected 26 on January 18, 1997, and Pedra canned the most three-pointers by a first-year Lyon since Mike Stanton '05 also hit five on February 14, 2002. Kelly contributed 17 points, four assists and four steals, while Zukowski collected 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Senior James Greenslit (Framingham, MA/Rivers School) finished with a career- and game-high six assists in 19 minutes.

In Wheaton's first game at Emerson Gymnasium in nearly a month, the Lyons were narrowly downed by MIT. After a seesaw first half, the teams went to intermission knotted at 30. During the final 12 minutes of the contest, neither squad led by more than five points as the teams traded the lead eight times, including on six consecutive possessions over the final 3:03. Sophomore Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) gave Wheaton its final lead at 66-65 on a lay-in with 2:13 to go, but MIT responded with consecutive buckets and the Blue and White's last-second three-point attempt rattled off the rim. Zukowski led all Lyons with 14 points while recording four assists, and sophomore Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic) tallied 13 points off the bench. Greenslit finished with 12 points, and DiGiovanna went 5-of-6 for 10 points. Kelly, who entered the week fifth nationally in steals per game and sixth in assists per game, contributed seven assists and three steals.

Women's Basketball (5-5, 0-2) Falls Twice in League Play During First Action in a Month

The Wheaton College women's basketball hit the court for the first time in nearly a month by opening its NEWMAC slate with a 75-52 setback at Wellesley College on Thursday and a close 78-74 loss at nationally-ranked Clark University on Saturday.

Against Wellesley, the Lyons scored the first basket before yielding 16 straight points and eventually trailing at halftime, 34-25. Wheaton was behind just 36-32 during the early going of the second half, but the Blue rattled off the next 18 points to put the game out of reach. Freshman Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) had a game-high tying 17 points and contributed six rebounds, while sophomore Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) notched 11 points, nine boards and four steals.

The Lyons gave Clark all it could handle during a NEWMAC affair. Wheaton led by as many as eight points during the first half against the Cougars, ranked 25th in the most recent USA TODAY ESPN Coaches' Poll and receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll, before the hosts rallied to take the lead. At halftime, Wheaton held a 35-34 edge, but Clark turned up the offensive pressure and led, 64-53, with 7:12 remaining. The Blue and White cut the host's lead to one point, 73-72, on Aitchison's hoop at 1:36, but the Cougars grabbed a pair of caroms off of their own missed free throws during the final 69 seconds and maintained their lead. Freshman Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) finished with 18 points while knocking down a game-high three three-pointers, and sophomore Amy Johnson (Wilmington, VT/Wilmington) netted a career-best 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Junior Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) had a season-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and tied her career high of eight assists, while Hickey recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Aitchison added 11 points, and junior Kim McCormack (Milton, MA/Milton) contributed nine points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Men's (6-2) and Women's (8-2) Swimming Opens 2006 with Meet at Wellesley

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving teams returned to action for the first time in 2006, as the women split a double-dual meet decision and the men fell in a dual meet on Saturday at Wellesley College. Wheaton's women downed United States Coast Guard Academy, 140-135 and fell to Wellesley, 180-113, while the men dropped a 174-105 decision to Coast Guard.

On the men's side, junior All-American Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering) and sophomore Matt Jordan (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth) each picked up a pair of individual victories and helped the 200-yard medley relay team to a win, siding with junior Matt Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) and freshman Chris Romilly (Washington, DC/Saint Albans) to capture first place in a time of 1:38.60. Roberts won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events in 21.30 and 48.02, respectively, and captured first in the 50-yard free by 0.14 seconds. Jordan took the top spot in each the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley, winning in times of 54.90 and 2:06.00, respectively.

Wheaton's women were paced by sophomore Abby Pratt (Melrose, MA/Melrose), who finished first in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly races. Pratt swam the 100-yard fly in 1:01.01 and the 200-yard fly in 2:18.84. Freshman Casey Shanley (Rumson, NJ/Suffield Academy) was victorious in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:30.28, an impressive 10.6 seconds ahead of the next finisher, while classmate Caitlin Glover (Durham, NH/Berwick Academy) won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:18.41.

Men's and Women's Track and Field Teams Open Indoor Season at Dartmouth Relays

The Wheaton College men's and women's track and field teams marked the beginning of their 2006 indoor seasons at the 37th annual Dartmouth Relays on Sunday, with the men placing sixth of 14 teams and the women finishing sixth among 16 squads.

Freshman Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) highlighted the meet for the Wheaton men, as he secured the top mark in the 60-meter hurdles event in his collegiate debut. Cunha topped the field in the preliminary event with a time of 8.60 and later claimed the top finish in the finals at 8.44. Other individual point-scoring performances came from first-year athletes Kyle Greenidge (Dorchester, MA/Newton North) and Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale). Greenidge placed fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 43' 6" while Wright took sixth in the finals of the 60M dash in 7.03. Wheaton's two relay teams enjoyed similar success with a pair of top-four placements, including a third-place showing in the 4x400-meter relay. The team consisted of seniors Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) and Ross Kahill (South Portland, ME/South Portland) and freshmen Brian Dundon (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) and Philip Kiley (Medfield, MA/Medfield).

The Lyon women garnered two NCAA Division III national meet provisional qualifying performances, as junior All-American Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) and freshman Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) met the standards in the high jump and 60-meter dash events, respectively. Harlow was the runner-up among college competitors with a clearance of 5' 5", while Ezeigwe was the meet's second-fastest collegian at 7.83 in her first college race. Similar to the men, the women landed one event win on the day with the meet's best time in the 4x400-meter relay. The foursome was comprised of Harlow, Ezeigwe, sophomore Joell Whitley (Magnolia, NJ/Triton Regional) and freshman Christine Moreau (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln). During the 4x200-meter relay event, Ezeigwe, Moreau, Lily Calderwood (Harvard, MA/Bromfield School) and Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) settled for third place after just missing the top mark by 0.22 seconds.

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