Men's Basketball Defeats Wheelock 73-64

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Four players scored in double-digits for the Wheelock College men's basketball team, but the Becker College Hawks dominated the boards in handing the Wildcats their first conference loss, 73-64 at Pine Manor College Tuesday night. The win improves Becker's record to 6-7 overall and 2-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference while Wheelock falls to 8-4 overall and 1-1 in the NECC.

Becker crashed the boards for 48 rebounds, including 22 offensive grabs, while Wheelock struggled underneath most of the night, managing only 33 rebounds. Two players turned in double-double performances for head coach Brian Gorman. Junior Raji Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) led all scores with 25 points and ten rebounds while sophomore Markus Wright (New Haven, Conn.) was 9-12 for 22 points and ten boards.

After Becker opened up the game with a 7-2 run, Wheelock tied the game at seven on a layup by junior Dan Main (Hopedale, Mass.), but the Hawks responded with a 10-2 run led by six points from Leggett. The Wildcats trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, but Wheelock sophomore Victor Kashouh (Providence, R.I.) nailed a triple at the buzzer to bring the Wildcats to with seven points at the half.

Wheelock cut the lead to five in the second half on a jumper by sophomore Eric Rice (Woburn, Mass.), but the Hawks turned up the defense and answered with a 15-4 run that was highlighted by eight points and a pair of dunks by Wright.

Rice led the Wildcats with 14 points while Main scored 13 and Kashouh scored a season-high 12 points. Kashouh also continued his league leading defense, picking the Hawks pockets five times on the night. Senior Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass.) was also in double-digits with ten points. Robbins needs only 13 points to hit a 1,000 points and will try for the mark Saturday when the Wildcats host Southern Vermont College at 2:00 at Pine Manor College.

Becker hosts Elms for a 3:00 conference showdown on Saturday as well.