NEWPORT, RI- Wheaton College men's basketball senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) moved into fourth place on the program's all-time scoring list on Tuesday night, but his Lyons fell on the short end of an 80-66 decision at Salve Regina University inside the Rodgers Recreation Center.
Wheaton slips to 0-3 in the defeat, while the Seahawks, which snapped a three-game losing skid to the Lyons, improved to 3-1.
Notching a game-best 21 points, Coppola now has 1,437 career markers, as he surpassed Mahlon Williams '95 and Brian Zukowski '07. Coppola shot 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe while adding five rebounds, three assists and a trio of steals.
Junior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) turned in 13 points, four boards and four assists, while sophomore Cliften Desravines (Somerville, MA/Taft School) contributed eight markers and seven rebounds.
Winning despite going 12-of-25 from the free throw line, Salve held a 45-36 rebounding advantage, including collecting 22 on the offensive glass. Senior Windell Hinkson (Groton, CT/Fitch) led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points, while classmate Ryan Birrell (Hope, RI/Scituate) and freshman Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, MA/Xaverian Brothers) had 14 each.
A Desravines dunk nine seconds in ignited a game-opening 7-0 run, as Coppola scored the last five in 49 seconds to put the Lyons ahead at 17:37. The Seahawks responded with six unanswered points, but Wheaton brought the margin back to seven at 15-8 with 11:36 to go before the break. With the visitors leading 20-15 at the 7:41 mark, neither team scored for nearly four minutes and Wheaton didn't find the basket for over five minutes, as Salve ended the frame on a 17-7 run for a 32-27 halftime advantage.
The hosts built a 43-31 lead 3:38 into the second stanza and maintained at least a seven-point edge up until a Lyon lay-in at 8:09 made the score 55-49 in Salve's favor. A freebie at 5:35 trimmed Wheaton's deficit to 59-56 before the Seahawks countered with a 12-1 spurt to put the game out of reach, as the hosts knocked down three treys over 1:09 for a comfortable 71-57 advantage. The Lyons came no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Wheaton faces its third straight The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) opponent on Thursday with a home game against Roger Williams University at 7:00 p.m.