With the victory, the Lyons advance to their sixth tournament semifinal round game and will face number-two seed Springfield College at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Springfield defeated Babson College, 71-68 earlier tonight in Springfield. Host WPI is pitted against the fourth-seeded Clark University Cougars in the 5:30 p.m. contest.
Improving to 17-8 on the season, Wheaton opened a 9-4 lead on the strength of seven points from senior tri-captain Mike Stanton (Lynnfield, MA/Brewster Academy). The Engineers responded with a 10-4 spurt to hold their only lead of the stanza at 14-13 with 11:10 remaining. With the score tied at 20-20, the hosts went on a 7-0 run and to take a 27-20 advantage with less than four minutes to play. MIT outscored Wheaton, 10-6 the rest of the way to trail 33-30 at the intermission.
In the second half, the Lyons appeared poised to pull away for good, but the Engineers battled back and managed to keep their deficit in single digits throughout. Wheaton held four eight-point leads over the course of the half and at the 7:06 minute mark captured its biggest advantage of the game at 53-44 thanks to a pair of free throws from senior tri-captain Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael's).
The visitors refused to quit, using a 10-2 run over a four-minute span to narrow their gap to a single point with 2:56 showing on the clock. Vega and senior tri-captain Mark Ledwell (Charlemont, MA/Mohawk Trail Regional) then converted back-to-back baskets for a 59-54 edge with under two minutes to go. MIT responded with a quick two from freshman Hamidou Soumare (Bamako, Mali/British School of Lome) and eventually got the ball back following a Wheaton offensive foul.
The Engineers had a pair of open looks from behind the three-point arc in the final minute but were unable to find the target. MIT was forced to foul from that point forward, as Wheaton's Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) sank a pair of free throws with 11 ticks remaining to clinch the win.
Leading the Lyons with a game-best 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line, Vega became the third men's basketball player in school history to surpass the 1,500-point milestone. Stanton posted a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Kelly finished with nine points and a game-high four steals.
Senior tri-captain Adam Gibbons (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) led MIT with 20 points, while senior tri-captain Mike Huhs (Mercer Island, WA/Mercer Island) posted 13 points and eight rebounds. Junior Danny Kanamori (Brookline, MA/Brookline) had eight points and six boards.
Newspaper Box Score MIT vs Wheaton College 2/22/05 7:00 p.m. at Emerson Gymnasium, Norton, Mass. At Emerson Gymnasium, Norton, Mass. WHEATON COLLEGE 61, MIT 56 MIT (10-14) Adam Gibbons 8-18 0-0 20; Mike Huhs 5-12 3-3 13; Danny Kanamori 3-13 0-0 8; Mike D'Auria 3-8 0-0 6; Will Mroz 2-3 0-0 5; Hamidou Soumare 1-2 0-0 2; Phil Murray 1-6 0-0 2; Gary Atkins 0-0 0-0 0; Alex Krull 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 3-3 56. WHEATON COLLEGE (17-8) Josean Vega 6-11 10-10 22; Mike Stanton 6-11 3-4 17; Sean Kelly 2-7 4-5 9; James Greenslit 2-6 0-0 5; Mark Ledwell 2-2 0-2 4; Brian Zukowski 1-3 0-0 2; Brent DiGiovanna 1-2 0-2 2; David Harding 0-1 0-0 0; Brian Cerone 0-0 0-0 0; Eric Johnston 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-45 17-23 61. MIT........................... 30 26 - 56 Wheaton College............... 33 28 - 61 3-point goals-MIT 7-28 (Adam Gibbons 4-12; Danny Kanamori 2-11; Will Mroz 1-2; Mike D'Auria 0-3), Wheaton College 4-16 (Mike Stanton 2-5; Sean Kelly 1-3; James Greenslit 1-4; Brian Zukowski 0-2; Josean Vega 0-2). Fouled out--MIT-None, Wheaton College-None. Rebounds-MIT 30 (Mike Huhs 8), Wheaton College 33 (Mike Stanton 10). Assists-MIT 8 (Phil Murray 4), Wheaton College 8 (Josean Vega 3). Total fouls-MIT 17, Wheaton College 14. A-400