Men's Basketball: Eagles Fall To Wheelock In Final Second, 66-65

Nashua, N.H - Senior forward Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass.) drew a foul and sank the second of two free throws with just three tenths of a second remaining in regulation lifting Wheelock College past host Daniel Webster, 66-65 in a hotly contested New England Collegiate Conference battle Saturday afternoon at Mario Vagge Gymnasium.

Robbins' free throw capped an 11-point second half comeback for the Wildcats (14-9, 7-5 NECC), who took their only lead of the entire game with his final shot.

Max Caim (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Eric Rice (Woburn, Mass.) led the Wildcats with 13 points each, while Robbins finished with 11 and Elliott Hernandez (Ft. Lauderdale) added 10.

Dan Main (Hopedale, Mass.) added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Chris Hanson (Salem, Mass.) and Eric Suarez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the Eagles (8-13, 4-7 NECC) with 14 points each, while Keith Speed (Columbus, Ohio) added 11 points and seven rebounds and Adam Landry (Vernon, Conn.) chipped in with 10. Suarez led DWC on the boards with eight.

Daniel Webster led by as many as 11 points second half and held a six-point edged (61-55) with 3:46 remaining, but a Kyle Pierce (Burlington, Mass.) layup and a Hernandez three cut it to 61-60 with 2:10 to go.

After Speed and Robbins traded jumpers, a Suarez layup gave the hosts a three-point lead (65-62) with 1:03 left. 

But Main buried a mammoth three from the right side to tie it with 35 seconds left and, after an Eagle turn over, Robbins drew the foul setting up his game winner.

Both teams struggled in the first half with the Eagles connecting for 33-percent from the field while Wheelock managed just 22-percent.

But both teams improved dramatically in the second with the Eagles hitting for 50-percent while Wheelock knocked down 55-percent, while the teams also finished virtually tied in total rebounds.

The Eagles return to action Tuesday visiting Becker College in a NECC matchup tipping off at 8:00 p.m.

Wheelock hosts Newbury Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be played at Simmons College.