NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College and Babson College men's basketball teams have a history of playing in long games, dating back to their five-overtime thriller in 1999, as tonight's contest went three extra sessions before the Beavers prevailed by a 99-91 count in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday in Emerson Gymnasium.
The Lyons fell to 7-15 overall and 2-8 in conference play, while Babson improved to 10-11 and 5-5.
Wheaton senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) paced all scorers with 30 points, shooting 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Freshman Brian Grossman (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) recorded a season-best 18 points with season-high-tying totals of eight rebounds and four steals.
Freshman Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH/Tilton School) notched 12 points, junior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) had 11 points and five boards, while junior Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) tied a 10-year-old program block record with eight rejections to go along with his eight rebounds.
For Babson, sophomore Marcus McDermott (Milton, MA/Milton) shot 10-of-13 with four threes en route to a career-best 29 points off the bench. He led six double-figure scorers, with classmate Alex Rudolph (Bal Harbour, FL/Miami Country Day School) contributing 18 points, six boards and four assists.
Sophomore Russell Braithwaite (Brooklyn, NY/Saint Mark's School) turned in 17 points, junior Kris Noonan (Boothbay Harbor, ME/Boothbay Region) had 11 points and seven rebounds, while junior Matt Florio (Skillman, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) chipped in with 10 points and eight assists. Senior Matt Zoia (Nashua, NH/Bishop Guertin) added 10 markers.
Heading into the third overtime knotted at 87, the teams combined for the game's 11th tie at 89-all with 4:05 to play. Babson led 91-89 with less than two minutes left before scoring five points in a 14-second span to put the game out of reach. Bayliss forced the third extra session by dropping in a lay-up with 1.1 ticks on the clock in the second overtime. A McDermott jumper with 16 seconds showing forced the second extra session. Regulation's final points were courtesy of a Degnan lay-up with 1:47 remaining.
That Degnan bucket proved to be the only time in the second half Wheaton didn't trail, as the Beavers led by as many as nine points at the 7:29 mark. The Lyons answered with seven points in under a minute span to get within 59-57 at 5:55. The teams traded baskets the rest of the frame, leaving the score knotted at 63 at the end of regulation.
The first stanza started out in Wheaton's favor, as the hosts jetted out to a 15-2 advantage by 12:17. The Blue and White led 26-17 at 5:48 before an 8-0 Beaver run made the score 26-25 with 2:46 to go before the break. Each team added four points for a 30-29 halftime edge in Wheaton's favor.
Wheaton takes the weekend off from game action and will return to the hardwood one week from today for a road game at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at 6:00 p.m.