Norton, Mass. - January 14, 2015 - The Springfield College men's basketball team put together one of its finest offensive performances of the season as it cruised past Wheaton College, 83-67, on Wednesday evening in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play.

With the victory, Springfield snaps a two-game skid to improve to 9-5, 1-2 in league action, while Wheaton falls to 3-9, 0-3.

Nick Sienkiewicz (Cranston, R.I.) netted a season-best 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) handed out a career-best 11 assists to go along with 17 points and six boards. Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) registered a double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.) produced 15 points, and Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) chipped in 11 points and five assists off the bench.

Springfield shot a season-best 56.4% from the floor, connecting on 31-of-55 field goal attempts, and registered 25 assists as a team, the most in a single game this season.

The Pride owned a 10-8 lead five minutes into the contest, but over the next 4:12, outscored the host Lyons by a 13-0 margin to take a commanding 23-8 lead after Altman buried a deep three with 10:48 on the clock.  The Pride's lead ballooned to 19 on a Martin three pointer with 4:57 to go in the stanza, making it a 38-19 contest, and Springfield would eventually head into the half with a 44-29 cushion.

In what would prove to be Springfield's highest scoring first half of the season, Sienkiewicz led all players with 12 points, connecting on all six of his field goal attemps.

Just over four minutes into the second half, Wheaton had trimmed Springfield's lead to single digits, as a three-point play made it a 48-39 contest.  However, the Pride would respond and put the game out of reach for good, using a 10-2 surge capped off by a Sienkiewicz triple to regain a 58-41 lead with 11:33 left in regulation.  Wheaton would get as close as 10 down the stretch, but Springfield would hold on for its first league win of the season.

Springfield will look to continue its momentum on Saturday when it travels to face MIT for a 3:00 pm showdown.