NEW LONDON, CT - Senior Daniel Main (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale) became the second player in the Wheelock College men's basketball team's four-year history to reach the 1,000-point plateau while helping the Wildcats to an 81-69 victory at Mitchell College on Saturday during a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) contest at the Yarnall Athletic Center. Now 5-8 overall and 2-2 in the league, Wheelock snapped a five-game losing streak, while the Mariners fell to 1-13 and 0-5 this winter.
Main finished with 17 points, shooting 7-for-14 while turning in six rebounds and four assists. After entering the game needing 14 points to join Sherard Robbins '10 as the only members of the 1,000-point club, Main's jumper with 9:10 remaining in the second half lifted him to the milestone.
Junior Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington) tallied 19 points, five rebounds and five assists while turning in the best perfect free-throw-shooting performance in program history, going 13-of-13 and tying his own mark for freebies made in a contest. Sophomore Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, MA/Weston) totaled 13 points and seven boards, while junior Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) contributed 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Classmate Eric Rice (Woburn, MA/Woburn) added eight rebounds, and junior Victor Kashouh (Providence, RI/Classical) notched three steals off the bench.
Freshman Alex Del Rio (New Britain, CT/Plainville) shot 5-for-6 from three-point range to lead Mitchell with 15 points, classmate Chris Thomas (Orlando, FL/Dr. Phillips) turned in 14 points and 11 rebounds, and junior Julio Contreras (Boca Raton, FL/West Boca Raton) had 14 points and six assists.
Mitchell scored the first basket before a pair of ties ensued prior to Main's lay-up giving Wheelock a 6-4 edge at 17:08 of the opening half, putting the Wildcats on top for good. A Thomas fast-break dunk brought his team within 7-6 prior to another Main bucket, and Wheelock later turned a 14-10 edge into a 37-17 advantage thanks to a 23-7 run during a 6:49 stretch. Six players scored in that time, with Hudson netting 11 points during a 3:04 spurt.
Pierce's three-point play with 19 seconds remaining gave the visitors their largest opening-half lead, 47-25, and provided the halftime margin. The visitors shot an even 50 percent from the floor during the stanza while holding the Mariners to a 30.3-percent showing. Wheelock went 11-for-14 on free throws in the period, compared with the hosts trying only a pair, and held a 30-12 rebounding advantage.
After Wheelock pushed its lead to 24 within the first two minutes of the second half, on a Main bucket at 18:16, Mitchell made it a 64-52 game on a Contreras three-pointer at 9:26. The Wildcats responded with the next eight points, including four from Pierce. Sophomore Daniel Higgins' (Wakefield, MA/Austin Prep) hoop at 4:34 provided a 21-point cushion and, after Contreras cut the Mariners' deficit to 10 with 37 seconds left, Pierce canned two freebies to close out the scoring.
The Wildcats continue their four-game road trip on Wednesday at perennial regional power Emerson College at 7 p.m.