CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Southern Vermont College men's basketball team shot an even 50.0 percent from the floor Saturday afternoon at Wheelock College, but the Wildcats responded with 14 three-pointers en route to their 103-95 defeat of the Mountaineers in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action.
SVC sophomore forward DeShawn Hamlet (Hartford, Conn.) notched team-highs of 24 points and seven rebounds, adding three blocks and four assists in the effort. Freshman guard Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) followed with 19 points while sophomore guard Antoine White (Germantown, Md.) chipped in with 12 and a team-best five assists.
Freshman guard Derek Fournier (Johnston, R.I.) helped the Wildcat offense with a season and game-high 27 points on a 6-for-10 clip from three-point range, adding six rebounds and a game-best three steals. Freshman forward Anthony Williams (White Plains, N.Y.) notched a double-double with 23 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Junior guard Jermaine Campbell (Bridgeport, Conn.) completed a three-point play with a free throw to give Southern Vermont its largest lead of the afternoon at 20-12 with 12:35 showing in the first half. Wheelock regrouped and put together a 14-2 stretch, fueled by six points each from sophomore forward Joe Reedy (Orlando, Fla.) and Williams to give the home team a 26-22 lead at the 7:45 mark of the opening period.
The Wildcats led for the rest of the half and increased their margin to a high of 10 following a three-pointer from senior Paul Coucci (Dartmouth, Mass.) for a 42-32 cushion with 3:40 left in the half. The Mountaineers scored seven of the next nine points to pull to within 44-41 with 1:42 showing on the first half clock, but Coucci later hit a jumper for the final points of the half to give Wheelock a 48-42 intermission lead.
Southern Vermont opened the second stanza with a 14-5 run, paced by seven points from Taylor, to take a 56-53 lead with 15:55 to play in the contest. Fournier then put the home team back in front with back-to-back three-pointers to give the Wildcats a 59-56 lead with 14:12 to go. Wheelock never trailed the rest of the way and led by as many as seven at 67-60 following a Williams jumper at the 11:46 mark.
A three-ball from freshman guard Jordan Alston (Hughesville, MD) cut the deficit to 67-65 for the Mountaineers with 10:49 left in the game as the Wildcats couldn't shake Southern Vermont, which later trailed by just three at 79-76 with 5:32 to play. White made a jump shot for the Mountaineers to make it 93-88 at the 1:47 mark, but the Wildcats pulled away with seven unanswered points to take a comfortable 100-88 advantage with 36 ticks remaining and go onto the 103-95 victory.
Wildcat freshman point guard Nicholas Fenton (East Harford, Conn.) broke his own single-game record for assists with 13 and added 12 points for his fourth double-double of the season. He also grabbed four rebounds and came up with a pair of steals. Coucci came off the bench to net 17, including four three-pointers, to move into third on the school's career list for treys with 89. He also grabbed four rebounds and handed out an assist. Reedy chipped in with 13 points, two rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
The Mountaineers are back home for a 7 p.m. Wednesday tip with Regis College, and Wheelock turns to an 8 p.m. Monday reschedule at Lesley University from Jan. 21.