Coppola's offensive explosion leads Lyons past Pacific Lutheran, 86-71

December 29, 2007

PHOENIX, AZ- Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) became just the fourth Wheaton College men's basketball player and first freshman to make seven three-pointers in a game Saturday afternoon, as his season-best 34 points lifted the Lyons to an 86-71 triumph over Pacific Lutheran University during the final day of the Cactus Jam Hoop Classic at Phoenix College.

Wheaton improved to 8-1 overall for the first time since 2005-06, while the Lutes fell to 4-4. The Lyons, who only played two of three tournament games due to travel difficulty on Thursday, finished fourth in the eight-team bracket despite being undefeated.

Coppola's offensive spectacle consisted of 7-of-8 shooting from three-point territory and 12-of-20 overall, as he scored the most points by a Wheaton freshman since January 30, 1990. Named to the all-tournament team, he also hit three free throws with three steals. Junior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) turned in his second all-around strong performance in as many days, dropping in 17 points while going 8-of-10 from the floor to go along with team highs of seven rebounds and four steals. He also handed out four assists.

Wheaton stormed out of the gate with eight points in 47 seconds, with Coppola laying in a shot eight ticks in and draining a three with 19:32 to go in the opening half. Freshman Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI/East Providence) made it 8-0 on a long-range shot and Michel's lay-up at 17:13 extended the Lyon lead to 10-0. Wheaton's defense stymied the Lutes, holding Pacific Lutheran without a point until the 14:51 mark.

Back-to-back Coppola treys in 27 seconds pushed the Blue and White to an 18-6 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. Junior Josh Dressler (Vancouver, WA/Portland Lutheran) answered with consecutive threes to cut the Lute deficit back to six, but a pair of Michel buckets moved the lead back out to double figures. Holding a 22-15 edge with a little over seven minutes to go, the Lyons closed out the half on a 19-7 run for a commanding 41-22 advantage at the break.

Lay-ins from Coppola and Michel to start the second half sparked Wheaton to the game's largest differential of 23 points with less than 19 minutes left. With the Lyons in control and leading 53-30, the Lutes used full-court pressure to force several Wheaton turnovers and rallied to get as close as 65-60 at 5:19. The Blue and White was in front by six before junior Patrick Youreneff (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) hit a clutch three and two free throws to create separation. Wheaton scored nine straight points over a 1:27 span that turned a nine-point advantage into 18 and put the game out of reach.

The Lyons finished the game shooting 62.5 percent from beyond the arc and 47.1 percent overall. Senior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) and sophomore Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) had eight points each, with Leo adding five boards and four assists, while Perry had seven points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Freshman Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) added a game-high-tying five assists.

Dressler and senior Scott McDaniels (Sammamish, WA/Eastlake) led the Lutes with 21 points each. Dressler had four threes, four rebounds and four assists, while McDaniels shot 9-of-14 to go along with a game-best 14 rebounds. Sophomore Gabe Smith (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma) added 10 points.

Wheaton returns to New England for a game at Fitchburg State College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

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