2008 NEWMAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT - Seventh-seeded Lyons unable to fend off third seed Coast Guard, 68-56

March 1, 2008

WORCESTER, MA- The seventh-seeded Wheaton College men's basketball team held a 36-26 halftime advantage and led by as many as 12 points early in the second half but were unable to hang on against third seed United States Coast Guard Academy, as the Lyons fell to the defending champion Bears, 68-56 during Saturday afternoon's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal round at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Harrington Auditorium.

Wheaton finished the year with a 13-12 record, while Coast Guard collected its ninth straight victory to improve to 20-6. The Bears will face host WPI for tomorrow's championship in a rematch of last year's final, won by then seventh seed Coast Guard.

In the opening frame, the two teams battled through nine lead changes and five ties through the first 17 minutes, as a three-pointer by freshman Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) at 3:13 put the Lyons ahead until early in the second half. Trailing 26-22 at the 4:57 mark, Wheaton tallied the half's final 14 points, knocking down all five of its shots to carry a 36-26 advantage into the locker room. Senior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA/Hanover) had six points and freshman Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) five during the spurt.

Wheaton held Coast Guard without a field goal for the final 7:06 of the first half, as the Lyons made 53.6 percent of their field goals compared to the Bears' 32.1 percent clip. Sasso converted all five of his shots to finish the half with 11 points, while Coppola and DiGiovanna finished with seven and six, respectively. Senior Jeff Prebeck (Columbus, IN/Naval Academy Prep) and junior Craig Johnson (Medford, OR/South Medford) led Coast Guard with 10 and seven points, respectively.

Sophomore Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) stretched Wheaton's run to 16-0 early in the second half, making a lay-up at 18:42 to extend the Lyon advantage to 38-26. Six straight points during 1:05 narrowed the Bear deficit to six, but the Blue and White later rattled off five in a row to take a 45-34 lead at 13:07. From that point forward, the momentum quickly shifted to Coast Guard, which outscored Wheaton, 34-11 to finish the game, including a 15-0 run over 5:40 that put the Bears on top for good.

Coppola's lay-in at 6:38 kept Wheaton within one possession before five straight points stretched Coast Guard's lead to seven, and the Lyons trailed by at least six the rest of the way. The Bears made six of their final eight free throws to capture the win, as Wheaton didn't score a field goal in the final 2:47. Second-half shooting went in favor of Coast Guard, which made 53.8 percent of its field goals. The Lyons hit 23.3 percent of their shots in the frame, going just 1-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc.

Coppola, who finished his freshman campaign with exactly 500 points and a 20.0 average, led Wheaton with 15 points. Sasso finished with 14, while freshman Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI/East Providence) pulled down a team-best seven boards.

Prebeck led all scorers with 26 points, going 10-of-14 from the field, with eight rebounds. Johnson accounted for 23 points, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 11-of-16 from the charity stripe, with nine boards.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 3/1/08.
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