Salve Regina gets hot from behind arc to beat Wheaton, 80-66

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University men's basketball (3-1) got solid production from its bench (28 points) including 22 points in the second half to lift the Seahawks to an 80-66 non-league win over visiting Wheaton College (0-3). Wheaton scored the game's first seven points and led throughout the first half until a jumper from senior forward Dan Royce (Mahwah, N.J.) tied the game at 20-20 with 3:23 left before break.

A pair of free throws from senior point guard Ryan Birrell (Hope, R.I.) gave Salve Regina its first lead of the game (22-20) and after Lyons senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) matched him from the other charity stripe, Birrell sank two more freebies to give the Seahawks the lead for good. Senior guard Windell Hinkson (Groton, Conn.) drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer just before the half to send the Seahawks into the lockerroom up five (32-27).

Birrell hit his first 3-pointer of the season for a 10-point lead (41-31) at the 16:52 mark of the second half. Hinkson and freshman guard Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) sandwiched layups around a jumper from Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) for a 12-point Seahawk lead with 15:04 left. The visitors then went on a 23-14 run over the next 10 minutes and had a chance to narrow the gap to two, but Will Bayliss (Manchester, N.H.) missed the second of two free throws.

Following a 30-second timeout, a Birrell layup ignited a 21-10 finish for the Seahawks in the final five minutes. Salve Regina hit five of its eight 3-pointers during the run including two each by freshmen Dinneen and Joshua Fuhrmeister (Bonn, Germany).

"I'm very pleased with the heart our team showed tonight," said Seahawk head coach Sean Foster. "We had a total team effort with thirteen guys making solid contributions on the court against a tough Wheaton squad for whom we have a great respect. One of our major keys tonight was to control the glass which is a difficult task with many young players but our guys stepped up did a great job getting to the 50/50 balls." 

Dinneen and freshman teammate Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) shared game-high rebounding honors (eight apiece). Hinkson had 16 points to lead Salve Regina while Birrell and Dinneen finished with 14 apiece.

Coppola finished with a game-high 21 points and climbed two spots into fourth all-time on Wheaton's career points list (1,437).

Wheaton looks for its first win of the season on Thursday as it hosts Roger Williams University. Salve Regina's next three games are non-leaguers against the other Division III schools from Rhode Island: Thursday at Johnson & Wales, Saturday versus Roger Williams, and next Tuesday hosting Rhode Island College.

Newspaper Box Score
Wheaton (Mass.) vs Salve Regina
11/30/10 7:00 PM at Newport, R.I. - Rodgers Rec. Ctr.
At Newport, R.I. - Rodgers Rec. Ctr.

SALVE REGINA 80, WHEATON (MASS.) 66

WHEATON (MASS.) (0-3)
Anthony Coppola 7-12 5-6 21; Brendan Degnan 4-13 5-7 13; Cliften Desravines
4-6 0-0 8; Scott Faucher 2-4 0-0 6; Will Bayliss 1-3 4-5 6; Shawn Daily 2-6
0-0 4; Anthony Weeks 1-4 0-0 3; Brian Johnson 1-4 1-2 3; Brian Grossman 1-4
0-0 2; Mike Hall 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Bell 0-0 0-0 0; Bruno Naylor 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 23-58 15-20 66.

SALVE REGINA (3-1)
Windell Hinkson 6-16 2-4 16; Ryan Birrell 3-7 7-11 14; Patrick Dinneen 5-9
2-3 14; Jeff Bielefeld 4-5 0-2 8; Joshua Fuhrmeister 3-5 0-1 8; Dan Royce
3-8 0-1 6; Joshua Hohlfelder 2-6 0-0 4; William Smiley 2-4 0-1 4; Isiah
Pringle 1-4 0-0 3; Scott St. Lawrence 1-3 0-0 2; John Williamson 0-1 1-2 1;
Alex La Rosa 0-0 0-0 0; Bradley LeBlanc 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-68 12-25 80.

Wheaton (Mass.) 27 39 66
Salve Regina 32 48 80

3-point goals--Wheaton (Mass.) 5-20 (Scott Faucher 2-3; Anthony Coppola 2-5;
Anthony Weeks 1-4; Brian Johnson 0-2; Brian Grossman 0-3; Brendan Degnan
0-3), Salve Regina 8-23 (Joshua Fuhrmeister 2-4; Patrick Dinneen 2-4;
Windell Hinkson 2-8; Isiah Pringle 1-3; Ryan Birrell 1-1; John Williamson
0-1; William Smiley 0-1; Joshua Hohlfelder 0-1). Fouled out--Wheaton
(Mass.)-Will Bayliss; Brian Grossman, Salve Regina-None. Rebounds--Wheaton
(Mass.) 36 (Cliften Desravines 7), Salve Regina 45 (Jeff Bielefeld 8;
Patrick Dinneen 8). Assists--Wheaton (Mass.) 11 (Brendan Degnan 4), Salve
Regina 17 (Ryan Birrell 7). Total fouls--Wheaton (Mass.) 25, Salve Regina
20. Technical fouls--Wheaton (Mass.)-None, Salve Regina-None. A-319