WPI 67, Wheaton 64 

Norton, MA --- The Wheaton College men's basketball team's last-ditch three-point attempt fell off the mark, and nationally-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) narrowly averted the upset with a 67-64 win on Saturday in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons fell to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the league, while the Engineers moved to 16-1 and 7-0. WPI, which is ranked 17th by D3hoops.com, set a school record with its 13th straight win.

In a game of many runs, the Lyons knotted the score at 10 with 12:01 remaining in the first half on freshman Ben Stehle's (Newton, MA) three-point play before the Engineers scored the next 13 points over a 5:34 span. Junior Jim Marois (Worcester, MA) led the charge with five points during that time, which carried WPI to a 23-10 lead with 6:21 until the intermission.

Wheaton still trailed, 25-12 with five minutes left before junior reserve Eric Johnston (South Windsor, CT) netted 11 of the Lyons' points during a 14-0 run that lasted for 2:48. Johnston canned a trio of three-pointers during that time after making only eight during his first 17 games this season as the hosts pulled in front, 26-25. After sophomore Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) hit a pair of free throws at 1:01 to give WPI the lead back, junior Jake Otto (Glastonbury, CT) converted senior Brian Zukowski's (Dracut, MA) backdoor pass with three seconds left to put Wheaton on top, 28-27 at halftime. After beginning the game by making four of their first 22 shots, the Lyons went 7-of-9 during the final 6:08 of the half. Conversely, WPI started 9-of-19 before missing its last seven attempts in the first period.

The Engineers retook the lead at 32-30 a little more than two minutes into the second half on junior Antoine Coleman's (Everett, MA) three-point play, but the Lyons responded with a 10-1 run to take its largest lead at 40-33, as Johnston's fourth three-pointer of the day broke a deadlock. Down 45-40, WPI rebounded with 11 straight points, as junior Ryan Bourque (Nashua, NH) netted five consecutive points to knot the game before Coleman and senior Ryan Cain (Webster, MA) each connected from beyond the arc.

Wheaton trailed by as many as 11 points at 65-54 with 3:27 remaining before mounting another comeback. Six combined free throws from Johnston, Stehle and Zukowski made it 65-60 with 1:58 left, and Stehle canned a three from the corner with 1:29 to go and bring the Lyons within four. Johnston converted a freebie with 48 ticks showing to make the score 67-64, and junior Brent DiGiovanna (Hanover, MA) corralled a defensive rebound with 15 seconds remaining to set up the final possession. However, the Lyons never had a clean look at the hoop, and their desperation attempt was scooped up by Coleman right before the buzzer.

The Lyons ended up being led by Johnston, who tallied a team-high 16 points thanks to his career-best four three-pointers and tacked on three assists in 26 minutes. Zukowski added 15 points and four assists, Stehle notched nine points and five boards in 15 minutes, and sophomore Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA) contributed eight points. Wheaton ended up shooting 35 percent for the game, but hit 8-of-19 three-point tries.

Coleman led all players with 23 points and 11 rebounds, hitting 9-of-16 shots. Cain added 17 points, while Marois finished with seven points and seven rebounds. WPI hit only 38.9 percent of its shots but cashed in on 20-of-28 free throw attempts and held on despite 22 turnovers.

The Lyons host NEWMAC foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Wednesday at 7:00pm. WPI also returns to action on Wednesday, entertaining Clark at 7pm.

Story Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information