WESTON, MA- Against a team that was averaging over 87 points a game, the Wheaton College men's basketball squad stymied Thomas College's high-scoring offense during a 72-67 victory on Friday night at the two-day Park Lodge Tournament at the Regis College Athletic Center.
Improving to 1-6, the Lyons were on the winning side of a game decided by six points or less for the first time, as the Blue and White had been 0-4 in such contests. Thomas, which twice topped the century mark in scoring during two of its last three wins, falls to 3-5. Wheaton advances to tomorrow afternoon's championship game to face the hosts at 3:00 p.m.
Lyon senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) had a career day, as he grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds while knocking down a career-high 12 free throws, which ties for eighth in program history. He also poured in a game-best 26 points.
Wheaton held a monstrous 60-26 rebounding advantage while going 28-of-33 from the free throw line, good for 84.8 percent. The Terriers, who only committed 10 turnovers, made just 52.2 percent of their 23 free-throw tries. Thomas was 5-of-26 from beyond the three-point stripe, while the Lyons went just 2-of-18.
Junior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) added 13 points and a career-high nine rebounds in the win, while classmate Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) neared a second straight double-double with 10 markers and eight boards. Sophomore Mike Hall (Lynnfield, MA/Saint John's Prep) nearly equaled his season rebound total with a career-best 10 rebounds.
Thomas was led by senior Andrew Duncanson's (Portland, ME/Portland) team-high 19 points, while sophomore Francisco Alicea (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) and senior Isaiah Brathwaite (Farmington, ME/Mount Blue) chipped in with 13 and 11, respectively.
Tonight's game featured 14 ties and 13 lead changes, with Thomas holding a 36-35 halftime edge. The Terriers grabbed an early 9-4 lead 3:11 in before three different Lyons hit jumpers for a 10-9 edge. Thomas responded with nine straight for the half's largest advantage at 18-10 at the 14:51 mark. Six straight points from Coppola sparked an 8-0 Wheaton run in knotting the score at 18 at 12:23. The rest of the half was nip-and-tuck, as neither team led by more than four points.
Trailing 41-40 with 17:26 to go, the Lyons went on an 18-6 run for a 58-47 lead at 11:46, as Coppola dumped in 11 points during the stretch. Wheaton led the rest of the way, but the Terriers made things interesting in narrowing their deficit to a single point three times, including trailing 68-67 with 31 ticks on the clock. Weeks made a pair of freebies at 16 seconds and Degnan drained two more six ticks later to seal the win.