Box Score Norton, Mass. - January 11, 2023 - The Springfield College men's basketball team was topped by Wheaton College, 86-73, on Wednesday night in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tilt.
The Pride dropped its fourth-straight game to fall to 3-11, 0-3 in conference play. The win boosted the Lyons record to 7-6, 2-1.
Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) turned in a season-best 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, Curtiss Blische (Barkhamsted, Conn.) registered a 16-point, 11-rebound performance, and John Paulino (Bedford, Mass.) added 14 points of his own.
After Blische knocked down a free throw to give Springfield a 14-6 lead at the 13:41 mark of the opening half, the Lyons answered with an 18-4 surge capped off by an Aaron Williams jumper to open up a 24-18 advantage of their own at 8:26. The Pride would regain a 27-26 edge when Panayiotis Kapanides (New Bedford, Mass.) drilled a shot from beyond the arc with just over six minutes on the clock, but the hosts would close out the frame on an 11-5 push to take a 37-32 lead into the break. It was an impressive opening stanza for Blische, as he netted 13 points for the visiting Pride.
Costa and Paulino came alive in the second half, combining for 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting. After Wheaton's lead grew to 43-33 inside the first two minutes of the half, a Paulino jumper at 14:32 made it a one-score game at 48-45. However, Wheaton would manufacture an 11-2 burst to earn a 59-47 cushion midway through the second half to gain control. The Lyons would push their lead to 14 points and cruise to the 86-73 triumph as their offense shot 54% from the floor in the second half and they connected on 20-of-25 free throw attempts.
Springfield will play another conference road game on Saturday when it heads to MIT for a 2 pm tilt.
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