Leading by six at the break, Wheaton opened the second half with a lay-up by senior tri-captain Sean Kelly (Providence, R.I.) that extended the visitors’ lead to eight at 34-26. Senior co-captain Brian Parsons (Queensbury, N.Y.) then drained a three-pointer to pull Babson back to within five, but the Lyons followed with a 20-4 run that put the game out of reach. Sophomore center Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, Mass.) and junior tri-captain Brian Zukowski (Dracut, Mass.) scored six points apiece during the spurt, which put Wheaton in front, 54-33, with 13:17 remaining. The Lyons would eventually lead by as many as 23 en route to the 72-55 victory.
Wheaton’s halftime lead came after the Lyons opened the contest with a 13-2 run. Babson eventually whittled its deficit down to just two, 22-20, on a baseline jumper by sophomore Kyle McDonald (Wethersfield, Conn.), but Kelly answered with a conventional three-point play that sparked a 7-0 Wheaton run. The Beavers again came back to get to within four on a lay-up by Parsons with 1:22 left in the half, but DiGiovanna executed a perfect pick-and-roll with Kelly to give the Lyons a 32-26 advantage heading into the break.
DiGiovanna dominated on the post for Wheaton, scoring a game-high 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting while also grabbing seven rebounds. Kelly added 13 points and a game-high seven assists, while Zukowski netted 12 points and recorded six of the Lyons’ 13 steals. Senior James Greenslit (Framingham, Mass.) also reached double-figures with 11 points for Wheaton, which shot 54.9 percent from the field, including a 40.0 percent (6-of-15) clip from three-point range.
Babson was led by Parsons and sophomore guard David Votta (Roswell, Ga.), who each scored nine points, and sophomore Greg Bush (East Islip, N.Y.), who added seven points and five rebounds. McDonald chipped in with eight points and three steals for the Beavers, who offset a 29-24 rebounding advantage by committing 25 turnovers.