Norton, Mass. - February 6, 2016 - Led by the tandem of Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) and Josh Downes (East Sandwich, Mass.), the Springfield College men's basketball team pulled out an 86-72 win at Wheaton College on Saturday afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play.

The loss drops the Lyons to 8-12 on the season and 2-8 in the NEWMAC, while the Pride improve to 9-12 overall and 5-5 in conference action. 

 Altman led the Pride with a career-high 29 points after hitting 11-20 from the floor, including a 7-for-8 performance in the second half.  Downes chipped in 22 points in the win, going a a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line. Larry Piretra (Oakland, N.J.) concluded the game with a game-high nine rebounds for Springfield.  The Pride got to the line early and often, going 28-31 for the game from the charity stripe.

Senior Billy Battaglia led the Lyons with a team-high 17 points on a 7-17 performance from the floor. Quinton Dale knocked down 15 points in the loss, while pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Liam Bruno also finished in double-figures, scoring 13 points.

The game proved to be a back and forth affiar with the two sides trading possession of the lead 20 times, while knotting up the score on 14 occasions. 

Wheaton got on the board first with a Bruno layup, but quickly had the lead erased by four points from Downes and a three-pointer from Andy McNulty (West Springfield, Mass.). With the score tied at 21-21, the Lyons went on a 6-0 run to capture their largest lead of the game with 4:30 on the clock. The Pride fought their way back in, tying the contest for the fourth time right before the half after a pair of freebies from Downes, sending the two sides into the locker room with the score at 31-31. 

Springfield opened the second half with a pair of inside buckets from Altman and Downes, taking a 35-31 lead with 18:37 left in the contest. Wheaton eliminated the four-point deficit over the next two minutes, tying the game at 39-39 on another Bruno layup.

Neither team would manage more than a four point lead over the following 16 minutes of action. Trailing 70-68, back-to-back Downes free-throws sparked a 10-2 run by the Pride, earning Springfield their largest lead of the contest as it picked up the key league win.  Springfield made the most of their free throw attempts down the stretch, going 13-for-14 from the line in the final 5:16 of the game.

Next up for Springfield will be a home tilt with Babson, who is currently in first-place in the league standings, on Wednesday night.  Tip-off is at 7:30 pm.