Springfield, Mass. – January 24, 2026 – The Springfield College men's basketball team dropped a 70-65 decision to Wheaton College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.

Wheaton, which improved to 11-6 overall and to 5-4 in the NEWMAC, completed the season sweep over Springfield this year after dropping both games during the 2024-25 campaign and the team's split the two regular season meetings in 2023-24 with each program winning at their respective home arenas. Springfield dropped to 6-11, 4-5 and after today sits one game ahead of Emerson for the final postseason berth. There are seven games remaining in the regular season.

Springfield was guided by Zachary Campbell (Philadelphia, Pa.), who totaled 19 points on a 7-for-9 shooting performance, in addition to five rebounds. Hunter Matteson (Dartmouth, Mass.) came off the bench and totaled 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Despite today's result, Springfield out shot Wheaton as the Pride buried 27-of-52 buckets for a shooting percentage of 51.9-percent compared to 43.6-percent for the visitors.

Springfield knocked down eight of its first nine attempts and shot at an 88.9-percent clip from the floor over the first ten minutes of the game, but it was Wheaton that held the 20-17 lead midway through the opening half. Over the opening stretch, seven different student-athletes for the Pride tallied a bucket highlighted by a trey from Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) off a feed from Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario).

Wheaton led by as many as seven after Dimitri Iafrate knocked down a jumper with under five left in the first. Springfield, however drilled the final three shots of the half to even the score at 30 heading into the break. Campbell drilled a three off a pass from Evely before Campbell and Livingston drove into the paint for layups to conclude the half.

In the first half alone, Springfield shot 60.9-percent from the floor, scored 24 of its 30 points in the paint and held a 16-13 edge on the glass. Wheaton, on the other hand was able to force 13 turnovers and turn it into 14 points.

Springfield opened the second half with nine of the stanza's first 11 points to push its lead to 11 at 39-32. Wheaton answered and after Eoin Morrissey drained a three, the score was even at 43 with 12:57 left in the game. Neither team was able to gain more than a one possession lead until Wheaton scored six straight points capped on another three by Morrisey for a 60-54 edge with 6:43 left. A layup from Campbell minutes later cut Springfield's deficit to one, but Wheaton nailed six shots at the free throw line to secure the 70-65 final.

Springfield will travel to MIT on Wednesday with tip slated for 6:30 pm from Rockwell Cage.

Sign up for free today to receive the latest news about your favorite Springfield College Athletics program directly to your email here. 

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to tune into all Springfield College Athletic events by subscribing to FloSports.