02/23/2008
Men's Basketball Posts Come-From-Behind-Win Over Wheaton, 92-90

WORCESTER, MASS. 02/23/08 - The Clark University men's basketball team posted an exciting 92-90 come-from-behind-victory over Wheaton College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game held at the Kneller Athletic Center on Senior Day Saturday.

With the victory, Clark (12-12, 7-5 NEWMAC) secures the second seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Wheaton, which falls to 12-11 (3-9 NEWMAC), garners the seventh seed. The two teams will face each other in the NEWMAC quarterfinal round game on Wednesday (7 p.m.) at the Kneller Athletic Center.

Sophomores Mark Alexander (Providence, R.I.) and Jack Minister (Manchester, England) led Clark with 21 points apiece. Alexander was 8-of-16 from the field and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds, while Minster hit five of the teams 13 three-pointers in the game. Junior Peter Normandin (Westminster, Mass.) added 14 points and senior Pat Ochoa (Springfield, Mass.) finished with 12 points, including several clutch free-throws down the stretch, to round out Clark's top scorers.

Freshman Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) scored 28 points on 10-of-19 from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point land. In addition to Coppola, sophomore Ben Stehle (Newton, Mass.) had 17 points, and sophomore Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, Va.) and freshman Ryan Sasso (Peabody, Mass.) contributed with 14 points each for the Lyons.

The Lyons jumped out to a nine-point lead (15-6) on a put-back by Nick Michel (Hyde Park, Mass.) at the 14:37 mark. Clark whittled away at the margin with an 18-9 run over the next 6:04 to knot the score at 24-all on Kyle Bean's (Southampton, Mass.) one-handed pop in the lane.

Sasso's three-pointer put Wheaton back on top, 27-24, but back-to-back trifecta's from Normandin and Byron Roberts (New Haven, Conn.) gave the Scarlet and White its first lead (30-27) of the game with 7:38 remaining. After Minister's three-ball gave Clark a six-point advantage (37-31), the visitors scored 10 of the final 12 points of the half to take a 41-39 margin into the break.

Coppola had 13 first-half points to help Wheaton to a 53.3% (16-30) shooting clip from the field. Clark converted on just 7-of-21 three-point attempts in the half.

Wheaton wasted no time extending its lead in the second half. Stehle converted a three-point play within the first two minutes for a five-point advantage (46-41) and drained a pair of freebies to make it 48-41 just 1:10 later. The Cougars unleashed a trio of three-pointers on their next three of four possessions to slice the deficit to within two (52-54) at 15:29. Minister made good on a pair and D.J. Brinn (Madison, Conn.) canned the final trey during the spurt. Clark made it a one-point game twice over the next minute, but was never able to push past the Lyons.

Wheaton went on a three-point flurry of its own on three straight possessions midway through the contest. A three by Bobby Perry (East Providence, R.I.) and Coppola's pair of trifecta's gave the visitors a 79-71 advantage with 6:58 left to play. However, Clark used a 12-1 stretch capped by Minister's fifth and final three of the game to take an 83-80 edge at 3:51.

The two teams traded buckets over the next 1:28 until Ochoa's pair at the line gave the hosts a four-point advantage (88-84) with 1:29 remaining.

A pair of costly mistakes from Clark allowed Wheaton a chance to get back into the game. A Cougar turnover and foul sent Sasso to the stripe where he sank the first shot and missed the second, but Stehle grabbed the rebound and found Leo underneath for the and-1 to tie it up (88-88) with 50 ticks left. Leo missed the freebie for the lead and Clark's Brinn and Ochoa combined for 4-of-4 at the line to close out the game.

Clark, which held a 39-34 rebound advantage, finished the game shooting 80.6% from three-point range.

Prior to today's game, seniors Pat Landers, Pat Ochoa and D.J. Brinn were honored for playing in their final regular season home contest.