Senior captain Mike Stanton (Lynnfield, MA/Brewster Academy) hit a free throw followed by a three-point basket to give the Lyons an early 4-2 lead with 16:37 to play. Wheaton eventually put together a quick 8-0 run thanks to a pair of free throws from junior Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) and three consecutive baskets from freshman Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT/East Catholic), one of which was a breakaway dunk. The Lyons were able to maintain a comfortable cushion the rest of the half, compensating for junior Danny Kanamori's (Brookline, MA/Brookline) barrage of three-pointers. Kanamori hit five three-point attempts to finish the half with 15 points, as his team trailed 38-29 heading into the locker room.
The second half started with the two teams trading baskets, with Wheaton maintaining a comfortable lead for the first eight minutes of the period. The Lyons led 46-37 at that point, but it was then that MIT junior captain Mike D'Auria (Newton, MA/Newton South) caught fire and proceeded to score 13 of his team's next 15 points, going 6-of-7 from the field in the scoring stint. The streak sparked the Engineers to a 52-48 edge at the 7:11 minute mark and a lead that was not relinquished. The hosts hung around and trailed 59-56 with 2:40 to play, but the Engineers scored six unanswered points to put the game away for good.
MIT shot well in the second half, knocking down 15-of-28 (.536) from the floor and 12-of-15 (.800) from the free throw line. The Engineers held the Lyons to a mere six field goals in the stanza, as Wheaton shot 6-of-27 (.222) from the field and 1-of-11 (.136) from the three-point arc.
Senior captain Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael's) led a quartet of Wheaton scorers in double figures with 13 points, which included a 7-of-10 performance from the charity stripe. Johnston was 5-of-7 from the field in netting 12 points on the night, while Kelly added 10 points and a season-high eight boards. Stanton rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points and six rebounds.
Kanamori used his strong first half performance to lead all scorers with 22 points, going 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point land. Kanamori also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. D'Auria totaled 15 points while shooting nearly 70 percent from the field, while senior captain Adam Gibbons (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) was 8-of 10 from the free throw line to account for 12 of the Engineers points.
The Lyons will hit the road for the first time in almost three weeks on Saturday, January 29, as Wheaton is set to face conference foe Clark University at 2:00 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score MIT vs Wheaton College 1/25/05 7:30 p.m. at Emerson Gymnasium, Norton, Mass. At Emerson Gymnasium, Norton, Mass. MIT 71, WHEATON COLLEGE 62 MIT (9-7, 3-3) Danny Kanamori 7-13 3-4 22; Mike D'Auria 7-11 1-1 15; Adam Gibbons 2-10 8-10 12; Mike Huhs 3-6 0-0 6; Phil Murray 1-5 3-4 5; Will Mroz 2-2 1-1 5; Gary Atkins 1-3 2-2 4; Hamidou Soumare 1-1 0-1 2; Evans Boney 0-0 0-0 0; Alex Krull 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-51 18-23 71. WHEATON COLLEGE (13-4, 4-2) Josean Vega 3-14 7-10 13; Eric Johnston 5-7 2-2 12; Sean Kelly 2-7 6-7 10; Mike Stanton 3-14 2-6 10; James Greenslit 3-7 0-0 7; Brent DiGiovanna 1-2 3-4 5; Mark Ledwell 2-7 0-0 4; David Harding 0-0 1-2 1; Jake Otto 0-1 0-0 0; Justin Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 21-31 62. MIT........................... 29 42 - 71 Wheaton College............... 38 24 - 62 3-point goals-MIT 5-16 (Danny Kanamori 5-10; Mike D'Auria 0-1; Adam Gibbons 0-5), Wheaton College 3-22 (Mike Stanton 2-8; James Greenslit 1-3; Sean Kelly 0-3; Eric Johnston 0-1; Josean Vega 0-7). Fouled out--MIT-None, Wheaton College-Mike Stanton; Sean Kelly. Rebounds-MIT 32 (Danny Kanamori 7), Wheaton College 40 (Sean Kelly 8). Assists-MIT 10 (Gary Atkins 3), Wheaton College 8 (Sean Kelly 3). Total fouls-MIT 23, Wheaton College 19. A-320