Hanlon named all-tournament as Seahawks suffer first loss

NORTON, Mass. - The Wheaton College men's basketball team collected its eighth Wheaton College Tip-Off Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon behind an 87-80 victory over Salve Regina in Emerson Gymnasium.

With the victory the Lyons are now 2-0 on the season and 24-8 all-time in the tip-off tournament. The Seahawks fall to 1-1 on the season and 2-6 in the tournament. Earlier in the day, The College of New Jersey defeated Wheelock College 89-65 in the consolation match. Wheaton senior Billy Battaglia was named Tournament MVP after putting together back-to-back 34 point games. First-year Matt Allegrezza was named to the All-Tournament team, as was Barrett Hanlon (Salve Regina), Eric Murdock Jr. (TCNJ) and Devin Brown (Wheelock).

Battaglia was once again the Lyons leading scorer, finishing the evening 15-19 from the free-throw line and 8-18 from the floor. His 68 points this season currently puts him at 881 career-points.

Junior Quinton Dale had an all-round performance for Wheaton, ending the day with the teams only double-double. Dale netted 16 points on 6-9 shooting, including a pefect 4-4 performance from the charity stripe, while also pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds. Allegrezza also knocked down 16 points in the win, while Timothy Berry finished with 10 points and a game-high three blocks.

Nicholas Bates led the Seahawks with 31 points and 13 boards, while also picking up a block and two steals. Bates finished 10-16 from the floor and 10-11 from the line. Hanlon also ended the contest in double-figures, netting 20 points for Salve Regina.

Wheaton wasted no time getting its offense going, running ahead to a nine point, 11-2, advantage in the opening three minutes of action. The Blue and White collected their largest lead of the half with 4:16 on the clock courtesy of a layup by Riley Tetreault. The basket put the Lyons ahead 47-23.

Salve Regina cut the deficit to single digits with 13:01 remaining in the contest after a Bates put back. The Lyons pushed their lead back to double-figures moments later, but the Seahawks continued to fight for every ball down the stretch. Another Bates layup, this time at the 3:28 mark, once again made it a single digit contest. Trailing 77-68, Salve Regina put together a 10-4 run over the next two and a half minutes to pull within three points with 32 seconds remaining.

The Lyons responded with six points from Battaglia in the final seconds to hold off the Seahawks.

Wheaton shot 47.2-percent from the floor (25-53), 41.7-percent from three-point range (10-24) and 77.1-percent from the charity stripe (27-35). The Lyons out rebounded their opponents 41-35, while the Seahawks ended the contest with a 10-4 advantage in steals.

The Lyons return to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 17 against Worcester State for a 7 p.m. tip. The game will be played at Clark University.