Robbins leads Wildcats on senior night

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass.)scored a team-high 20 points and three other Wildcats hit double figures as the Wheelock men’s basketball team defeated Newbury College 88-64 Wednesday night at Simmons College. Freshman Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass.) led the Nighthawks with 20 points while fellow Freshman Timothy Young (Brockton, Mass.) hit 4 three pointers in scoring 17 points.

The win improves the Wildcats to 15-9 on the season and 8-5 in the New England Collegiate Conference and ensures that head Coach John Preziosa’s team will host a quarterfinal playoff game for the second year in a row. The game will be played next Tuesday, February 23, at Pine Manor College at a time to be determined.

Wheelock jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, thanks to a full court press that forced four Newbury turnovers in the first two minutes of play. The Wildcats finished with 12 steals, including six from Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) who also dished out eight assists and scored eight points.

The Nighthawks pulled to within two points at the 10:43 mark in the first period when Torres intercepted a Wheelock pass and went coast to coast for the score and the free throw. Wheelock responded with an 11-2 run and took the 37-28 lead into the locker room at the half.

Newbury was able to climb within six points in the second period when Young nailed a triple at the 15:23 mark, but sophomore Eric Rice (Woburn, Mass.) answered on the next Wheelock possession with a three-pointer of his own to put the Wildcats up by nine. Wheelock Junior Patsy Dinuzzo (Beaver, Pa.) then scored 12 points in the next four minutes of play to help solidify the win, finishing with 15 points on the night, going 4-9 from behind the arc. Rice finished with 11 while Dan Main (Hopedale, Mass.) scored 12 points.

Wheelock will travel to Becker College for a 1:00 NECC game on Saturday while Newbury (6-17, 4-8 NECC) travels to Becker for a 7:00 game on Thursday.