News Release

WORCESTER, MA — In conference action, Wheaton College defeated the Clark University men’s basketball team 77-63 at the Kneller Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. Clark took an early 8-4 lead two minutes into the first half after a three-pointer by graduate student Adam Miller (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury). Leading by three-points with 7:38 to play in the first stanza, Wheaton went on a 17-5 run to take a 15-point advantage with 1:34 to play before intermission. Sophomore Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) led Wheaton with seven points in the first half including one of the Wheaton’s four three-pointers during the run. Sophomore Mischa Tripoli (N. Falmouth, MA/Northfield Mt. Herman) drained a jumper at the end of the half to cut the Lyons lead to 13-points. Leading by 10-points with just under 19 minutes to play in the game, Wheaton went on a 22-12 and built a comfortable 60-40 lead with 9:39 to play. The Lyons pushed their lead to 25-points with a three-pointer by Zukowski with 7:15 to play in the game and cruised to the 77-63 victory. Zukowski led five players in double-figures for the Lyons with 17 points. Junior Sean Kelly (Providence, RI/Wheeler School) chipped in 13 points and five assits for the Lyons, who improved to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the NEWMAC. First-year Pat Landers (Worcester, MA/St, John’s) led Clark with 13 points and six rebounds while classmate Pat Ochoa (Springfield, MA/Commerce) was 3-for-4 from long range for nine points. Junior Tim Dutille (Sunapee, NH/Lebanon) chipped in nine points and eight rebounds for the Cougars, who fell to 5-13 and 1-6 in the conference. Seniors Josean Vega (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael’s) and Mike Stanton (Lynnfield, MA/Brewster Academy) each chipped in 10 points for Wheaton, who snapped a two-game conference losing streak. The Lyons had won 11-straight before the skid. Clark is back in action when they travel to conference opponent Coast Guard on Tuesday, February 1 for a 7:00 pm start.