Norton, MA --- Senior Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA) poured in a game-high 23 points to lead the Wheaton College men's basketball team to a 71-69 win over WPI in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action Wednesday night at Emerson Gymnasium.
Senior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI) added 17 points and four assists as the Lyons (10-11, 3-6 NEWMAC) won their second-straight contest and swept the season series from the Engineers (16-5, 6-3 NEWMAC) for the first time since 2002-03. WPI held only two leads in the contest for a total of 52 seconds.
Sophomore Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH) – who scored a career-high 23 points in the Lyons 65-51 win at then-No. 24 WPI earlier this season – chipped in with 15 points and five assists. Senior Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, NY) snared a team-high eight rebounds to go with four points and a pair of blocks.
WPI senior Matt Carr (Somersworth, NH) scored a game-high 23 points but was held to just six in the second half. The Engineers held a 41-30 edge on the glass – led by nine from Carr – and trailed by 12 with six minutes to go before a 17-7 run to close the game nearly gave them their 17th win of the season.
The Lyons led by two (34-32) at the break behind 13 points from Weeks and seven from Degnan. Weeks knocked down three of his six shots from behind the arc while Degnan dished out three assists to pace the Lyons offense. Carr led all scorers with 17 points as the Engineers outscored the Lyons 24-14 in the paint in the opening 20 minutes. WPI shot 52 percent from the field while the Lyons connected on 47 percent of their shots.
Sparked by a pair of three's from Degnan, Wheaton opened the second half on a 13-5 run to take a 47-37 lead five minutes in. Over the next 10 minutes, the Lyons lead never dipped below five points, and they soon built a 64-52 lead behind a three-point play from Bayliss and a pair of layups by sophomore Brian Grossman (Duxbury, MA).
The Engineers fronted a furious rally late as freshman Sam Longwell's (Acton, MA) drained three 3-pointers in a span of 48 seconds to make it a 69-67 game with 44 seconds remaining. Degnan made one of his two free throws down the other end to push the lead to three (70-67) before senior Jaime Shannon (Lowell, MA) answered with a layup with 27 seconds left to again make it a one possession game at 70-69.
After fouling Bayliss and watching him make one of his two free throws, the Engineers got the ball back with 21 seconds remaining. WPI worked the clock under 10 seconds before Shannon drove to the lane for the tying score. His layup attempt sat on the front rim before falling to the ground as the horn sounded.
The Engineers finished the evening shooting 48 percent (30-of-63) but made just three of their 15 attempts from behind the three-point line. Wheaton, meanwhile, also shot 48 percent from the field (26-of-54) but hit on 8-of-20 three-pointers.
Shannon finished with 19 points and five assists for WPI, which also received 11 points, six boards and four steals from Longwell. Grossman tallied seven points.
The Lyons play the final regular-season home game of the season on Saturday when they host Coast Guard at 2 p.m. Prior to the start of the game, Wheaton will honor seniors Degnan, Daily, Weeks, and Bruno Naylor (Santa Monica, CA). WPI hosts Springfield Saturday at 2 pm in a battle of teams tied foe second place in the NEWMAC.
Release Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information