Lyons drop home finale to first-place WPI in NEWMAC play

February 20, 2008

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell in its regular season home finale to first-place Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 109-58 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday evening in Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons are now 12-10 overall and 3-8 in the league, while the Engineers are 19-5 and 10-1.

Sophomore Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) hit a three from the corner after 45 seconds to give Wheaton the first points of the game before WPI responded with an 8-0 run, but the Lyons edged back to make it 8-7 behind two baskets 1:03 apart.

From there, the Engineers, who started 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, canned four straight treys in 1:53 to spark a 20-0 run during 4:46. Five players scored in that time, with junior NT Izuchi (Boston, MA/John D. O'Bryant) tallying seven to lead the charge. The visitors shot 7-of-8 during the run, as Wheaton missed five straight shots during a 5:19 scoreless stretch before Lyon freshman Ryan Sasso's (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) leaner fell at 10:27.

WPI's lead continued to grow, as the Engineers scored 48 of the final 59 points in the period. The visitors held a 56-18 advantage at halftime behind 58.3 percent shooting, including an 11-of-19 showing from beyond the arc. Sixteen of the Engineers' 21 baskets were assisted, they turned the ball over only four times, and five players had at least eight points by intermission. WPI also outrebounded the Lyons, 25-10. Wheaton shot 24.1 percent in the half.

The visitors maintained a large lead in the second half, while the hosts improved upon their first-half offensive effort with 40 points, surpassing their opening-stanza output when freshman Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) hit a three-pointer at 13:12. Wheaton shot 46.4 percent, including 41.7 percent from beyond the arc, during the second half and finished 35.1 percent overall for the game while hitting seven threes.

For the 15th time this season, Coppola led the Lyons in scoring, netting 20 on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with a team-high-tying five rebounds. Sasso added 10 points and three assists, while Leo canned a trio of threes for nine points.

WPI finished the game shooting 53.3 percent, hitting 16-of-30 three-point tries. The Engineers had a 49-27 advantage on the glass and recorded 26 assists to just seven turnovers.

Izuchi went 6-of-6, including 4-of-4 from deep, in tying for the team lead with 16 points. Senior Jim Marois (Worcester, MA/Doherty) also tallied 16 points while snagging seven boards, classmate Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA/Everett) had 11 points, six caroms and five assists, and junior Adam Lirette (Dover, NH/Dover) notched 11 points, five boards and four helpers. In all, 16 Engineers scored.

Wheaton concludes its regular season on Saturday at Clark University at 1:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/20/08.
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