WPI 84, Wheaton 69 

Box Score

Norton, MA --- WPI Men's Basketball extended their winning streak to six in a row and remained in first place and undefeated in NEWMAC play, defeating Wheaton on the road 84-69 Saturday afternoon. The Engineers, who are receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll, improved to 14-3 and 5-0 in the NEWMAC. Wheaton falls to 11-7 (3-2 NEWMAC).

Wheaton started out the game with early momentum. The Lyons scored the game's first eight points of the opening half behind a strong effort on the glass, snagging five of the first six boards of the contest. Junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA) hit a pair of free throws to cap the 8-0 run for the Lyons.
 
WPI then went on an 21-4 run to take the lead and control of the game. WPI shot 10-of-18 during the big run, including going 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Engineers shot a hearty 53.6% from the floor during the first half, allowing them to take a 46-27 lead into the locker room. Sophomore guard Kyle Nadeau (Webster, MA) netted 11 first-half points for WPI to ignite the run.
 
Wheaton went on a mini-run to start the second half, keyed by sophomore Ryan Sasso's (Peabody, MA) personal 5-0 run brought the hosts within 46-32 early in the second half. That was the first of three times that Wheaton cut the Engineer lead to 12 early in the half. Wheaton freshman Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI) later canned a three that closed the gap to 62-52 with 7:35 left before the Engineers were able to build their lead back up to 18 with under five minutes to go.
 
The Engineers received a pair of 17-point efforts from players off the bench, as senior Jerome Kirkland (Boston, MA) and sophomore Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT) each reached the total. The WPI bench outscored Wheaton's reserves 43-16.

Nadeau tallied 16 points and four assists for the Crimson and Gray, while senior Adam Lirette (Dover, NH) had 12 points behind an 8-of-10 showing at the charity stripe. NT Izuchi (Boston, MA) had nine points and five boards for the Engineers. The WPI win was fueled by a 33-23 rebounding advantage, as well as a very efficient 50.8% shooting effort for the game.

Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA) finished with a game-high-tying 17 points for the Lyons, while Leo had 12 points and ended up 7-of-8 at the line. Sasso added 10 points for Wheaton, while Degnan totaled nine. The Lyons committed only three turnovers in the second stanza while trying to rally from behind, and finished 19-of-23 on free-throw attempts.

WPI heads home for a pivotal matchup this Wednesday against MIT. The Worcester Engineers and Cambridge Engineers will do battle for first-place in the NEWMAC, each coming in with a 5-0 record in the conference. Tipoff is at 7:00pm. Wheaton hits the road, taking on Springfield Wednesday at 7:30. 

Major portions of release courtesy of Wheaton College Sports Information