Men's Basketball Downs Wheaton, 70-58; Now 3-1 in NEWMAC Play
Box Score/Play-by-PlaySPRINGFIELD, Mass. – January 17, 2007 – Junior guard Jamaal Gibbs scored 19 points in leading the Springfield College men’s basketball team to a 70-58 New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference victory over Wheaton College tonight at SC’s Blake Arena.
With the win, host Springfield is now 8-9 overall, 3-1 in NEWMAC play, while Wheaton falls to 8-7 overall, 1-4 in NEWMAC competition. SC has now won two straight, and five of its last seven. Wheaton had won two of its last three entering tonight’s game.
Gibbs had a fine game, scoring nine points in the first half, 10 in the second stanza. The native of Norwalk, Conn. not only scored those 19 points, he added a game-high nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals. He made 9-of-15 from the field, including 1-for-1 from three-point range.
Two others scored in double figures for the home team. They were freshman guard Ryan Blackmon (Stamford, Conn.) with 18 points, and freshman forward Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) with 13. Junior forward Gregg Daly (Farmington, Conn.) and senior forward Damian Farley (Natick, Mass.) each added eight points.
For the Lyons of Wheaton, junior guard Eric Johnston (So. Windsor, Conn.) scored 13, followed by junior center Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, Mass.) with 12. Three others scored nine points each. They were senior guard Brian Zukowski (Dracut, Mass.), freshman guard Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, Va.), and junior forward Jake Otto (Glastonbury, Conn.).
The game started slowly for both squads. When Gibbs stole the ball and laid it in with 14:57 left in the first half, it was just 6-2, SC. Later Gibbs made a 3-pointer with 7:01 left, and SC had its largest lead of the half at 17-12.
But Wheaton then put together its best stretch of the contest, outscoring the Pride, 14-2, over the next four minutes. When Zukowski made a conventional three-point play with exactly three minutes left, Wheaton had its largest lead of the game at 26-19.
Those last three minutes became important when Springfield managed to score the last six points to close the margin to 26-25.
Neither team shot well in that half, SC .333 (10-of-30) and Wheaton .367 (11-of-30).
With 15:42 left in the game, DiGiovanna made a lay-up, giving the Lyons a 32-27 lead, their largest of the second half. But here is where Springfield came back to life, outscoring Wheaton, 13-1, in a four-minute stretch. When Blackmon made a lay-up off a feed from senior guard Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, N.Y.), SC led 40-33. Pizzo finished with a game-high nine assists. He led the league in that category entering the game, averaging 4.9 per contest.
Wheaton again closed the gap, cutting it to two (40-38) with 10:51 left on a jumper by Johnston. With the score, 46-42, SC then put on a mini-five-point run, on two free throws by sophomore center John Strawson (Torrington, Conn.), followed by a three-pointer by Blackmon. And at 51-42 with 6:52 left, SC finally had a little daylight.DiGiovanna made two free throws with 5:50 left, cutting it to seven, but that was as close as he Lyons would come the rest of the way. From there, Wheaton pressed full-court, creating more of a frenetic pace, but SC was able to increase the lead to as may as 13 points at 66-53 on a lay-up by Gibbs with 1:14 remaining. Farley’s lay-up with 27 seconds left closed the scoring at 70-58.
Wheaton outrebounded SC, 40-39. But SC only had nine turnovers, while Wheaton also did well in that category with only 12. The telling stat was second-half shooting percentage. SC shot .514 (18-for-35), while Wheaton shot just .250 (7-for-28). The Lyons made just 3-of-17 from three-point range for the game (.176).
WPI next plays at WPI Saturday, Jan. 20 at 3 pm. It will be SC’s second meeting with the league leader in 11 days. Wheaton next hosts Coast Guard Saturday at 2 pm.
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Head Coach Charlie Brock
Charlie Brock in 2011-12 will enter his 14th season as the head coach at Springfield College and his 32nd season as a head coach overall. Brock’s achievements as a coach are certainly impressive. He has taken three schools to the NCAA Division III Tournament and has an overall, 31-year record of 423-387. Read more.