Battaglia leads Lyons with 11 points

BABSON PARK, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell to rival Babson College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Thursday evening, 67-48, at Staake Gymnasium.

Wheaton sophomore guard Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn./Taft School) led the Blue and White with 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench. Junior forward Mike Cannon (New York, N.Y./Hyde School) nearly recorded a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds, while senior captain Will Bayliss (Manchester, N.H./Tilton School) and freshman forward Quinton Dale (Winthrop, Mass./Taft School) each netted eight points, as well as combined for nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. 

Beavers' freshman forward Joey Flannery (Acton, Mass./Taft School) paced all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds. Classmate Sam Bohmiller (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) chipped in with 13 points off the bench and junior center David Mack (Holden, Mass./Worcester Academy) tallied 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Babson never trailed in the game, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead behind a three-pointer from senior Matt Palazini (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) and five straight points from Mack. A jumper from freshman Ben Christopher (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) brought Wheaton back within 14-13 at the 11:58 mark, but the Beavers responded with a 10-2 spurt keyed by three-pointers from Wickey and Bohmiller to grab a 24-15 lead just 5:27 before halftime.

The Lyons closed to within 28-22 with 1:33 left in the stanza, but back-to-back hoops by Flannery, followed by a trifecta from senior Kenny Ross (Furlong, Pa./Academy of the New Church) on the following possession helped the Green and White open a 35-24 lead at the break.

Babson pushed its lead to 46-30 on a pair of free throws by Wickey just over five minutes into the second half, but Wheaton used a 12-2 burst, sparked by seven points from Battaglia and a three-pointer from Cannon, to cut the lead to 48-42 with 9:38 left in the game.

The Beavers were clinging to a 54-48 edge with 5:41 to go before putting the game out of reach with a 10-0 run. Back-to-back layups from Bohmiller, a steal and finish by Flannery, and a four-point play by Bohmiller made it 64-48 with 2:55 remaining.

The Green and White finished the night shooting just 39 percent (23-for-59) from the floor and were just 5-of-23 from three-point range. Wheaton shot 37.3 percent (19-for-51) from the floor and connected on just 4-of-22 three pointers.

The Beavers held a 36-14 edge in the paint and outscored the Lyons 18-8 off turnovers.

Wheaton (7-11, 2-7 NEWMAC) hosts Springfield College this Saturday inside Emerson Gymnasium at 1 p.m. Babson (15-6, 6-3 NEWMAC) welcomes third-ranked WPI to Staake Gymnasium on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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