NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell to visiting New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Springfield College, 73-69 on Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons, who slipped to 13-10 overall and 5-5 in the league, remained in third place in the NEWMAC standings, while the Pride improved to 11-12 and 3-7.

Pride junior Pat Crean (Sleepy Hollow, NY/Sleepy Hollow) scored eight of his team's first 10 points, helping it take a 10-5 lead 4:59 into the contest. Wheaton chipped its deficit to 12-11, with freshman Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) scoring four straight points to make it a one-point game.

After falling behind 19-13, the Lyons put together a 14-3 run during a 4:35 span to grab a 27-22 advantage. Sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) scored nine points in that time, while classmate Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) assisted three field goals, including an alley-oop pass that was thrown down by junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) at 4:39.

However, the Pride controlled the final 3:53, shooting 4-of-6 during an 11-0 run. Four different players scored to help Springfield take a 33-27 advantage into the locker room. Wheaton outrebounded the visitors 18-12 but committed 12 turnovers to the Pride's seven. Crean had 15 points, while Coppola had nine.

The visitors extended their run to 13 straight points early in the second half, but Wheaton drew within four points three times before making it a three-point game on three occasions. Freshman Bruno Naylor (Los Angeles, CA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) went up strong to make it 46-45 at 12:07, and Weeks countered a Springfield three with a long trey to keep it a one-point game with 11:28 to go.

A 5-0 run, capped by a pair of Coppola free throws at 7:50, gave Wheaton a 55-54 edge, its first since fewer than three minutes remained in the first half, but Springfield freshman Antoine Hicks (Houston, TX/Stratford) canned a three 14 seconds later to put the Pride back in front for good.

Over the final 8:13, the Lyons made just two field goals, both by senior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) in the last minute, but stayed close thanks to 12-of-12 free-throw shooting. With a little more than three minutes to go, Wheaton had two game-tying attempts end up off the mark within a 23-second stretch. Michel converted a Sasso dish with 27 seconds left to make it 70-69, but the Pride hit three freebies in the final 26 ticks.

Coppola led the Lyons with 17 points, while Michel had 12 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Weeks ended with 10 points, Sasso totaled seven points, a career-high seven assists and a career-high-tying seven rebounds, while junior Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) notched six boards.

Crean paced Springfield with 24 points, including an 8-of-10 showing at the charity stripe, to go along with a team-high six rebounds, and Hicks added 10 points off the bench. Sophomore Matthew Cavalieri (West Warwick, RI/West Warwick) tallied 11 bench points.

The Lyons take to the road on Wednesday for their final regular season contest away from home, opposing Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) at 7:30 p.m.