NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell short of visiting Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Thursday night, dropping a 68-55 decision in Emerson Gymnasium.

The Lyons slip to 7-13 overall and 2-6 in conference play, while the Cougars ended a four-game losing skid and collected their first NEWMAC win to improve to 7-13 and 1-6.

Freshman Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH/Tilton School) had a career night with a season-best 25 points, going 10-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, to go alongside four assists and three steals.  Senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown), who needed 21 points to move into second place on the school's all-time scoring list, got 15.  Freshman Brian Grossman (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) pulled down a season-high eight rebounds.

Junior Brian Vayda (Sturbridge, MA/Tantasqua Regional) turned in a team-best 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.  Freshmen Jake Gubitose (Fiskdale, MA/Tantasqua Regional) and Jeff Tagger (Brockton, MA/Catholic Memorial) added 11 and 10 markers, respectively.  Two players had eight points, while sophomore Tucker Esborn (Branford, CT/Avon Old Farms School) finished with a team-high seven boards.  

The Lyons sprinted out to a 10-2 advantage at 16:10 of the opening half, as four different players cracked the scoring column.  Clark responded in a major way, using a 13-0 run over 3:04 to secure a 15-10 lead at 12:48.  Following a Wheaton bucket, the Cougars ripped off seven of the game's next nine points for a 22-14 bulge with 7:07 to go before the break.  Trailing 24-17, the Lyons answered with a pair of baskets to get within three before a Vayda three made the score 27-21 at 3:38.  Clark was kept off the board the rest of the frame, leading 27-25 at halftime.

Wheaton trailed by one two times early in the opening half before the Cougars rattled off 10 consecutive points for a 40-29 advantage with 14:13 left.  A Bayliss conventional three-point play cut the Lyon deficit to eight at 13:26, but Clark responded with a 10-0 spurt to gain the game's largest lead at 50-32 at the 10:39 mark.  The hosts narrowed the gap to 53-45 by 5:45 but came no closer, as the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to the put the game out of reach.

Wheaton hosts league power Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., as the Engineers are ranked 13th nationally by D3hoops.com.