Springfield, Mass. - January 12, 2022 - The Springfield College men's basketball program used a impressive first half earn its first conference win of the season in a 77-71 victory over Wheaton College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Wednesday afternoon in Blake Arena. 

Springfield improves to 3-9 on the season and secured its first NEWMAC win of the year, while Wheaton drops to 5-7 on the season and 0-1 in the conference. The Pride dished out 20 assists in the contest, while shooting 32-of-60 from the floor for a 53% field goal percentage. Springfield owned the rebounding advantage with a 41-39 edge over the Lyons on the glass. 

Springfield received a balanced attack as five players scored in double figures in the victory. Nate Gryczka (Keene, N.H.) knocked in four threes en route to a team-high 14 points. Jack Meagher (Sydney, Australia) pitched in 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and gave the Pride a offensive boost off the bench. Panayiotis Kapanides (Bedford, Mass.) contributed 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) scored 12 points and totalled seven assists in the win. 

Aaron Williams poured in a game-high 28 points and 13 rebounds for Wheaton, while Evan Cook chipped in 16 points. The Lyons were held to 39.4% shooting from the field and were just 4-of-29 from three in the setback. 

After the Lyons built a 7-3 lead to open the contest, Springfield ripped off a 15-0 run, fueled by a pair of buckets from Ty Garry (Southington, Conn.) and Meagher. The scoring burst allowed the Pride to take a 18-7 lead with 12:15 remaining in the first half. Springfield built their lead up to 22-10 with 11:23 to go as Costa pushed the ball up the court and found Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) on the left wing for the fast-break dunk. Wheaton sliced into the Pride's lead with a quick 8-0 burst over the following two minutes to make the score 22-18 with nine minutes left in the half, which also proved to be the closest margin for the remainder of the half for the Lyons. Over the final 5:42 of the first half, Springfield outscored Wheaton 15-7 to take a 43-27 lead into the half. Springfield shot a tremendous 63% from the floor in the first half on 19-of-30 from the field, while holding Wheaton to just 29% shooting over the first 20 minutes of action. 

Springfield continued its hot shooting into the second half as the Pride pushed its lead to 70-49 with 10:19 on the clock after Gryczka knocked down his third-straight three pointer and gave Springfield its largest lead of the afternoon. At 10:02, Aaron Williams scored in the lane for the Lyons, which sparked a 9-0 run for the visitors and brought the score to 70-58 with 7:46 to go. At 6:42, Costa energized the Pride with a steal that resulted in a fastbreak dunk to make the score 72-58 in favor of Springfield. With 5:42 remaining, Jacob Morales (Montvale, N.J.) dished to Kapanides for the inside bucket, which gave Springfield a 14-point cushion at 74-60, however, Wheaton slowly clipped into the Springfield lead with an 11-3 run to finish the game. Despite the late push from the Lyons, Springfield was able to hold on for the 77-71 victory.

Springfield will travel to MIT on Saturday, January 15 for a 2:00 tip with the Engineers.