CAMBRIDGE, MA – Behind a game-high 23 points from Daniel Main (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale), Wheelock (7-9, 3-3) bested Lesley (3-14, 0-6), 78-70, in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball play Tuesday night.

     Main's 23 points came on 7-12 shooting and a 7-8 effort at the charity stripe, while Victor Kashouh (Providence, RI/Classical) led all players with 11 rebounds as the Wildcats outrebounded the Lynx 44-36.

     A battle between two of the league's top point guards lived up to its billing, as Lesley's John Sanchez (Carson, CA/Saint John Bosco), the NECC's assists leader, poured in a team-best 19 points to go along with nine assists, only two turnovers and four steals. Wheelock's Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington) took advantage of two early Sanchez fouls to earn the brunt of his 16 points, six rebounds and five assists in the first half, when Wheelock jumped out to a 19-7 lead at the 11:00 mark.

     A 7-0 Lynx run sparked by Lesley's bench and highlighted by a Christian Fuentes three made it a 19-14 contest four minutes later, but an Elliot Hernandez (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) jumper put the Wildcats on top 27-16 with 2:24 left in the half. Lesley's Thorton Paul (Boston, MA/West Roxbury), who led all scorers with 11 points at half, scored six of them in the final 63 seconds on back-to-back trifectas to pull the Lynx to within four, 26-22 at halftime.

     Lesley briefly kept its momentum going out of the half, but never enough to overtake the Wildcats. Kris Bennet's (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) layup on a feed from Paul made it a 29-26 game, but Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay)  answered with six straight points for Wheelock. Main capped the 9-0 run with a three-pointer, giving the Wildcats a 38-26 lead, their largest since midway through the first half.

     The Lynx cut the margin to six on a Jesus Trejo (Methuen, MA/Methuen) layup at the 4:40 mark, but a pair of free throws and a streaking layup from Main followed, distancing Wheelock for its third win in four contests.

     All of Paul's 11 points came in the first, while freshman Fuentes scored a career-high 10 on 2-6 shooting from behind the arch. Trejo added nine points and a team-high nine boards for the Lynx.

     Lesley plays host to Mitchell Thursday night at 8:00. Wheelock continues conference play on Thursday, playing host to Elms.