Third straight win for Salve Regina men's basketball

NORTON, Mass. – Salve Regina University men's basketball won its third straight game to open the season with a 74-58 victory over Wheaton College in non-conference action Thursday night inside Emerson Gymnasium.

Salve Regina had three student-athletes register double-figures highlighted by sophomore guard Barrett Hanlon's (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and one steal. Senior guard Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass./Xaverian Borthers) led all scorers with 18 points on five of 10 shooting from the field (six of nine from the line) alongside four rebounds and three swipes. Classmate Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass./Littleton) rounded out the group with 11 points, ten rebounds and three assists.

Wheaton freshman guard Aygei Gregory (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands/St. Andrews) poured in a team-high 15 points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist. Classmate Zach Parsons (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) tallied seven points and seven rebounds (three offensive), while sophomore guard Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn./Taft School) had nine points and junior forward Eddie Capstick (Worcester, Mass./Marianapolis Prep) notched eight points and dished out four assists.

The Seahawks held a 37-28 edge in rebounds and a 40-24 differential in points in the paint including a 22-14 margin in the opening stanza. Salve Regina shot 51.9-percent (28-for-54) from the floor, compiled 14 assists and nine steals. Wheaton shot nearly 42-percent (23-for-55) from the floor, had 14 assists and seven steals.

The Lyons led by as many as six at the 14:41 mark of the first half as Gregory paced the squad with five points including a one-handed fastbreak dunk at 15:35. Capstick concluded the run with a three-pointer on a feed from Gregory. Salve Regina answered back with a 10-4 run of its own to even the score at 18-18 with 12:01 remaining in the first half. Bielefeld gave the visitors the lead for good at the 11:34 mark with a layup on an assist by senior forward Scott St. Lawrence (Litchfield, N.H./Bishop Guertin).

Wheaton made  it a two-possession contest on four separate occasions before the break, but went into the locker room down 39-32. After Dinneen buried a three-pointer to push the Seahawks lead to 48-37 with 16:47 remaining in the game, Salve Regina did not relinquish its double-digit advantage for the remainder of the contest. The Seahawks led by as many as 21 points (72-51) with 5:36 to play. Dinneen guided the offense with 12 points in the stanza shooting 4-for-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from long distance. Hanlon had eight points, while senior forward Joshua Hohlfelder (Noank, Conn./Fitch) contributed seven points and three rebounds.

The Lyons (1-2) travel to Regis College on Saturday for a non-conference matchup at 1 p.m. Salve Regina (3-0) visits Coast Guard Academy on Tuesday, November 26 at 5:30 p.m.