CAMBRIDGE, MA – Wheelock (8-8, 6-2 NECC) hit 4-5 three-point field goals during a crucial stretch that separated the Wildcats from Lesley (6-9, 3-5 NECC) in its 61-35 win Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball play at the Nicholas Athletics Center.
Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, MA/Weston) led all players with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Max Kaim (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) added nine points and seven boards for Wheelock. Bunky Williams (Miami, FL/Northwest Christian) knocked down all three of his three-point tries, including two midway through the second half that helped distance the Wildcats in the team's program-record-tying fourth straight win.
For the Lynx, which shot only 24 percent (13-54) from the floor and 12.5 percent (3-24) from distance, Bryant Itonyo (Medford, MA/Medford) hit all three of the team's three-pointers in finishing with a team-high 11 points. Forward Kris Bennett (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) added seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
An inauspicious start set the tone for Lesley's long night from the field, as the Lynx hit only 2-10 in the early going with the Wildcats racing to a 16-5 lead on Williams' first triple. Consecutive Mike Kaufman (Boca Raton, FL/American Heritage) layups sparked a 12-1 Lesley run capped by Itonyo's only two-point field goal, pulling the Lynx to with 22-17 with 5:50 left in the half. Five minutes later, on a Hudson jumper with 51 seconds left, the Wildcats went into halftime leading 29-21
The teams combined to shoot just 2-20 from deep in the first half, with Wheelock holding a 20-18 rebounding edge, but the team that broke out of its long-distance funk distanced itself in just a span of minutes.
That team looked like it would be the Lynx, at least initially. After a John Sanchez (Carson, CA/Saint John Bosco) lay-in, Itonyo knocked down his second trey in four tries, this one pulling Lesley to within 29-26, the closest the Lynx had come since it trailed 5-0.
Williams and Wheelock would ensure that was the closest Lesley came for good. He and Daniel Higgins (Wakefield, MA/Austin) hit three-pointers 88 seconds apart, each on feeds from guard Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington), to go ahead 35-26.
After a Higgins miss, Williams teamed with Kaim on a pair of treys 77 second apart. All together, the Wildcats hit 4-5 from downtown over a span of 5:24, sparking what became a 24-5 run that created a 53-31 lead. Coupled with 21 percent second half field goal defense against the Lynx, Wheelock's white-hot shooting knocked the home team out for good, 61-36.
The Wildcats, following a 1-7 first half from deep, converted on 6-12 three-pointers in the second.
Lesley travels to Mitchell College Thursday night, when Wheelock takes on Elms College.
