MIDDLETOWN, CT- Wheaton College men's basketball junior Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) turned in a career-high 24 points in leading his Lyons to a 65-60 victory over Westfield State University during Thursday's opening round of Wesleyan University's Red & Black Classic in Silloway Gymnasium.
Winning for the third straight time, Wheaton improves to 3-6 and will face host Wesleyan in tomorrow's championship game at 2:00 p.m. Westfield State, which like the Lyons competed in Regis College's tournament earlier this month, dropped its third straight to fall to 3-7.
In just 29 minutes, Weeks nailed a career-best five three-pointers, going 5-of-9 from beyond the three-point stripe while making all five of his free-throw tries. As a team, the Blue and White assisted 15 of its 19 field goals while shooting 17-of-20 at the charity stripe.
Sophomore Scott Faucher (Lebanon, NH/Kimball Union Academy) tied a career high in points and threes with 13 and three, respectively, while junior Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds.
Junior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) and freshman Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH/Tilton School) had four assists apiece.
For the Owls, who made just one of 10 three-pointers, junior Marcellus Lee (Quincy, MA/North Quincy) recorded 15 points off the bench. Freshman Andrew Morgan (Somerset, NJ/Saint Joseph) and junior Ryan DeLosa (Leeds, NY/Cairo-Durham) added 14 and 10 points, respectively, with Morgan dishing out five assists.
Tonight's game was tight from the outset, as the teams experienced 13 lead changes and seven ties. Neither squad led by more than five points until Wheaton held a 57-50 edge with 4:27 to play. Westfield State led 5-0 before the Lyons went on an 8-0 run with 14:13 to go in the opening half. A Faucher triple capped the stretch, and another Faucher three put Wheaton in front by a 20-15 count at 6:35. After the Owls scored seven consecutive points, the Blue and White countered with four straight for a 24-22 edge at the break.
Clinging to a 30-29 lead with 17:35 remaining, Westfield State scored six in a row to lead 35-30 with less than 16 minutes left. Weeks then had a hand in Wheaton's next 11 points, including draining a pair of treys and knocking down a jumper, as the Lyons held a 41-39 edge at 12:31 that gave Wheaton the lead for good. The closest Westfield State came was 43-42 at 9:46 and 47-46 with 7:19 remaining, but a Weeks three made it 50-46 and the Lyons led by at least three during the final six minutes.