Weekly Lyon

Men's Basketball (12-7, 3-4) Goes 1-1, Kelly Becomes First Lyon to Hit 500-Assist Plateau

The Wheaton College men's basketball team split a pair of games against New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes last week, opening play with a 59-51 loss at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Tuesday, the Blue and White's fourth defeat by eight points or fewer. Senior Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) had a historic day during the Lyons' 95-92, double-overtime victory against Clark University on Saturday, as he became the first Wheaton player to reach the 500-career assist plateau and tied his own school mark of 12 helpers in one contest. By notching their 12th win, the Lyons have recorded at least a dozen victories during each of head coach Brian Walmsley's nine seasons at Wheaton.

At MIT, Wheaton's second-half rally came up short during a league game. Following an opening period in which the lead changed hands seven times and the score was tied three times, the teams aptly entered intermission knotted at 28. The Lyons cooled off in the second half, hitting only 8-of-30 shots, including 1-of-12 from behind the arc, while MIT went 11-of-22 from the field. With the Blue and White clinging to a 32-31 lead and 16 minutes remaining, the hosts used a 13-3 run for a 44-35 advantage with 9:08 to play. Wheaton responded as sophomores Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) and Jake Otto (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) combined for eight straight Lyon points to reduce the MIT lead to 46-45 with 5:44 left, but the Lyons came no closer. Senior James Greenslit (Framingham, MA/Rivers School) and junior Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) led the visitors with 13 points and five rebounds apiece, while DiGiovanna contributed with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Wheaton won for just the second time in six games with a victory over Clark at Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons tallied the game's first eight points and maintained that edge with a 44-36 halftime lead. The Blue and White stretched its advantage to 16 points, but the Cougars slowly chiseled away at Wheaton's lead by outscoring its hosts, 22-7 over the final 9:35 of regulation to forge a 75-all tie. The teams traded the lead three times during the first 3:12 of overtime, as three-point baskets by Zukowski and Greenslit had the Lyons on top, 81-79 at 1:48. Zukowski's second trey of the stanza came with 24 ticks left to put Wheaton up, 85-81, but Clark hit a game-tying three with five seconds left to force an 86-all stalemate. The Cougars scored on a pair of possessions early in the second extra session, but the Lyons responded each time to tie the game. With Wheaton down, 92-91, Otto snagged a carom and deposited the go-ahead lay-up with 41 seconds left, and Zukowski corralled Clark's unsuccessful go-ahead attempt before draining two free throws. Zukowski posted a season-high 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting while adding five boards and four assists. DiGiovanna tallied his first career double-double, tying career highs with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Kelly added 12 points and five steals. The lone Lyon to ever record a dozen assists in one game, Kelly also accomplished the feat on January 4, 2004.

Women's Basketball (10-8, 3-4) Wins Two of Three, Including Lone NEWMAC Contest

The Wheaton College women's basketball team tallied a pair of wins during a three-game week, including a NEWMAC victory to creep within one game of .500 in league play. On Tuesday, the Lyons downed Mitchell College, 85-64 in the teams' first meeting before narrowly falling at local non-conference foe University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, 67-66 on Thursday. The Blue and White rebounded from the loss, their fifth by eight points or fewer, with an 82-63 win against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Saturday. Wheaton is above .500 through 18 games for the first time since the 1999-2000 season and has double-digit wins for just the second time in six seasons.

During the Lyons' non-conference affair at Mitchell, the teams exchanged the lead on eight occasions during the first 8:25 of the game before junior Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) converted a three-point play that gave the visitors the lead for good. The Lyons led, 36-29 at halftime, at which point Sorbara had 15 points, six steals and five assists. After keeping its lead around 10 points during the first six minutes of the second half, Wheaton tallied 14 straight points over a 2:54 span to forge a 63-42 advantage by 10:15. The Lyons shot 62.5 percent in the second stanza, hitting 20-of-32 shots en route to 49 points, tying its highest-scoring period of the season. For the game, Wheaton hit 33-of-66 shots, including 9-of-16 from beyond the arc. The Lyons were also a perfect 10-of-10 on free throws while picking up 25 assists and 22 steals. Sorbara finished with a career-high 20 points, eight assists and matched a career best with eight steals. Freshman Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) tallied 18 points, including 14 after halftime, as well as eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. First-year Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) nailed 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc, collecting 17 points and four helpers, while sophomore Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) turned in 12 points, eight boards, six steals, four assists and two blocked shots.

UMass-Dartmouth converted a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining during Wheaton's one-point loss against the host Corsairs. Smith gave the Lyons their largest lead at 14-10 with 11:06 remaining in the first half after canning her second three-pointer in 64 seconds and put Wheaton up, 21-20 thanks to another long-range shot at 6:31. UMass-Dartmouth reeled off the next nine points, but Smith converted a four-point play at 2:27 to pull the Blue and White within 29-25. The Corsairs took its largest lead, 62-53 at 4:47 of the second half before the Lyons rallied. A pair of Hickey baskets followed by a Hickey-assisted jumper from Aitchison capped an 11-2 run and knotted the score at 64 with 1:34 left. UMass-Dartmouth retook the lead at 65-64 on a free throw with 33 seconds remaining, but Hickey scored off a feed from Aitchison with 17 seconds to go. However, the Corsairs drew a foul on their next possession and hit a pair of freebies for the win. Over the final 13:13, Aitchison and Hickey combined for all of Wheaton's 21 points, and the duo tallied 34 of the Lyons' 40 second-half points. Hickey finished with a season-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Aitchison hit 8-of-12 shots for a career-best 21 points, corralled eight boards, and tacked on five steals and three assists. Smith nailed four threes and had 17 points, as she, Aitchison and Hickey netted all but five of Wheaton's points. Sorbara tallied eight assists in 20 minutes, and the Lyons forced 27 turnovers for the fourth straight game.

The Lyons shot 60.9 from the field, the second-best shooting performance in program history, against MIT at Emerson Gymnasium. Smith keyed a Wheaton run midway through the first half that gave the hosts the lead for good with a free throw and consecutive three-pointers 27 seconds apart. The Lyons led, 42-30 at halftime. After Wheaton built its lead to 16 points three times during the first 6:27 of the second stanza, MIT reeled off 11 straight points before the Lyons responded with an 11-0 run of their own. During the second period, Wheaton hit 14-of-20 shots for a 70-percent clip. Hickey led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting, marking her third 20-point outing in four games. Smith finished with 17 points by going 4-of-6 from long range and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe, while Aitchison hit 5-of-7 attempts for 14 points. Freshman Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) tallied a season-high 12 points, sinking all six free throw attempts, sophomore Amy Johnson (Wilmington, VT/Wilmington) tied career highs with 13 points and a team-best six rebounds, and Sorbara dished out a career-best 10 assists after matching her top helper total each of the past two games. Sorbara became the first Lyon since December 9, 1999 with a double-digit assist total, and just the second since January 31, 1995. Wheaton's prowess from the floor was just shy of the 61.1 percent the Lyons posted on January 23, 1992.

Men's (11-3) and Women's (12-4) Swimming Complete Dual Meet Seasons with 1-1 Weeks

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming and diving teams each completed their dual meet schedules by going 1-1 last week. Both teams lost during Tuesday's home finale against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with the men falling, 123-82 and the women dropping a 130-86 decision. On Friday, Wheaton swept University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, as the Lyon men corralled a 120-91 victory and the women won, 123-98. After finishing their regular season slates this coming Saturday at the Middlebury Invitational, the teams will begin preparations for the NEWMAC Championships. The women are slated to compete at MIT on February 17-19, while the men will host the three-day meet on February 24-26.

Against MIT at Balfour Natatorium, junior All-American Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering) highlighted the men's event with an NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying standard, a pair of individual event wins and one relay victory. The national meet mark came during the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Roberts recorded a 50-yard time of 21.17. Joining Roberts on the winning relay was sophomore Matt Jordan (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth) and freshmen Chris Romilly (Washington, DC/Saint Albans) and T.J. Sponzo (Simsbury, CT/Avon Old Farms), who finished the race in 1:28.14. Roberts also posted victories in the 50- and 100-yard free races in 21.43 and 47.35, respectively, while junior Matt Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) won the 500-yard free in 4:58.96.

For the women, sophomore Abby Pratt (Melrose, MA/Melrose) topped the field in the 50-yard freestyle event with a time of 25.13 and eventually led the 200-yard free relay team to victory. Pratt, senior Courtney Catalano (Westford, MA/Westford Academy), sophomore Meg Miller (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and first-year Mandy Cumings (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville Community) sided for a 1:44.03 finish, narrowly defeating MIT's top foursome by 0.62 seconds.

During Wheaton's wins over UMass-Dartmouth, Hurley and Jordan were both double winners, as Hurley captured the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard freestyle events and Jordan the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard free races. Leading the Lyon men to a total of 10 event victories, Hurley also joined Roberts and sophomores Joe Fowler (Farmington, ME/Mount Blue) and Ryan Patch (Lexington, MA/Lexington) on the fastest 400-yard free relay team. Fowler also topped the field in the 400-yard individual medley, Patch claimed the top mark in the 1,000-yard free and Roberts was victorious in the 100-yard butterfly. Romilly rounded out the individual wins with the top time in the 500-yard free in addition to siding with Roberts, Sponzo and freshman Jake Maher (Newtown, CT/Newtown) on the winning 200-yard medley relay team.

For the women, Pratt was Wheaton's lone multiple-event winner with first-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly events. Catalano won the 100-yard free, Miller took the 200-yard free, freshman Caitlin Glover (Durham, NH/Berwick Academy) secured the 500-yard free, and classmate Casey Shanley (Rumson, NJ/Suffield Academy) captured the 1,000-yard free. Cumings completed Wheaton's individual wins with the meet's fastest time in the 400-yard individual medley, and she later sided with Glover, Shanley and freshman Katie Burbank (Mill Valley, CA/Marin Catholic) during the Lyons' victorious 400-yard free relay race.

Men's and Women's Track and Field Squads Have Strong Showings at Terrier Classic

The Wheaton College men's and women's indoor track and field squads had strong showings last weekend at the non-scoring Terrier Classic at Boston University, as sophomore Megan Brousseau (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) broke a seven-year-old school record, while junior Jennifer Harlow (East Bridgewater, MA/East Bridgewater) and freshman Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) each met NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying standards.

Brousseau's record came in the 3,000-meter run, as her time of 10:16.65 was 6.98 seconds better than the mark established in 1999. Harlow met NCAA provisional qualification with a 5' 5 3/4" leap in the high jump, tying for the second-best height at the meet. Freshman Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) turned in a 10th-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.38, while sophomore Joell Whitley (Magnolia, NJ/Triton Regional) ran the 55M in 7.55, just 0.22 seconds off an NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time.

For the men, Cunha finished 10th in the 400-meter dash, completing the race in 48.74 and surpassing the NCAA Championship qualifying minimum. His time was just 0.67 seconds behind the top collegian in the meet. With a time of 7.99 during the 55M hurdles, Cunha was 0.20 seconds shy of matching a school record. Senior Ajay Sisodia (Andover, MA/Andover) turned in an 11th-place showing in 1:05.09 during the 500M, coming within 0.13 seconds of a Wheaton standard, while he, Cunha, and freshmen Victor Martinez (Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter Academy) and Michael Wright (Baldwin, NY/Uniondale) combined to place 12th in the 4x400M relay in 3:22.67.

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