Team Effort Powers Men's Basketball Past Bryn Athyn, 72-51

AURORA, N.Y. – Led by four double-digit point scorers, the Wells College men's basketball team defeated the Lions from Bryn Athyn College by a 72-51 score on Saturday at the Farenthold Athletic Wing. Wells moves to 5-8 overall on the year and to 3-3 within the North Eastern Athletic Conference. The Lions drop to 1-10 overall and to 1-4 within the conference.

Junior Vaughndell Brantley (Syracuse, N.Y.) led his team with 21 points on offense. Freshman Rich Ross (Bronx, N.Y.) missed a triple-double by only three assists after tallying a team-leading 14 rebounds, 11 points and seven helpers. Junior James Feocco (Auburn, N.Y.) posted 15 points while sophomore MJ Williams (Tampa, Fla.) registered 10 points on the day.

In the opening minutes, both teams battled to a six-point deadlock with 17:45 remaining in the first before a layup by Ross propelled the Express to an 8-6 lead only 18 seconds later. Bryn Athyn captured a game-high five point lead with only 4:50 expired in the contest, using a Stephan Tucker three-point basket before four-straight points from James Flagg to create a 13-8 score for the visitors.

Wells used six-straight free throws across a span of 53 seconds to retake the lead in the contest. Deion Boyer, however, countered with a trey and a layup in the paint to give his team its final lead of the afternoon at 18-14 with 13:20 remaining in the opening half.

The Express turned a corner offensively from that point on, outscoring the Lions by a 23-to-8 margin across the next 10 minutes to capture a 37-26 lead with 2:29 left in the first half. A fastbreak layup by Troy Steed preceded a free throw make to shrink the Wells halftime lead to 37-29.

In the second half, Wells put the game out of reach with a dominant 15-to-2 scoring run that spanned nearly seven minutes of action. A layup by sophomore Christopher Dean (Wolcott, N.Y.) in the paint created a 20-point lead, 55-35, for the Express. In the final 2:10, a three-point basket by freshman Zachary Marsh (Whitney Point, N.Y.) preceded a layup by sophomore Cadeem Campbell (Union City, N.J.) to establish a 22-point lead.

Wells limited the Lions to only 27.8% shooting from the floor while forcing their opponents into 16 turnovers. The Express shot nearly 50% (27-for-56), converting exactly 70% of their chances at the free throw line.

Bryn Athyn was led by 15 points by Boyer. Christian Rivera led the Lions off the bench with nine rebounds.

The Express return to action Sunday, Jan. 17 as they host Penn St.-Abington at high noon within the Farenthold Athletic Wing.