SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell at first-place Springfield College, 78-61 on Wednesday in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play at Blake Arena. The Lyons slipped to 5-8 overall and 1-2 in the league, while the Pride won its fifth straight in improving to 7-8 and 3-0.

With the Lyons missing their top three scorers, freshman P.J. Walters (Hempstead, NY/Saint Dominic) turned in a season-high 17 points off the bench, going 8-of-10 on free throws. Senior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) posted 13 points and six boards, while sophomore Bruno Naylor (Los Angeles, CA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) added nine points. Freshman Mike Hall (Lynnfield, MA/Saint John's Prep) tallied five rebounds while swatting four shots. The Lyons shot 7-of-31 from three-point range.

Sophomore Ryan Coburn (West Warwick, RI/West Warwick) led Springfield with 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks, while junior Matthew Cavalieri (West Warwick, RI/West Warwick) had 14 points and 16 boards. The Pride held a 58-37 rebounding advantage.

Neither squad cracked the scoreboard until Lyon sophomore Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) hit a three-pointer 3:13 into the contest, as Wheaton pushed out to a 7-0 lead thanks to Springfield missing its first seven attempts. Naylor's jumper at 15:13 still had the Blue and White ahead by a 9-2 count.

Springfield took over from there, outscoring the Lyons 32-7 to end the half. After Naylor's hoop, the visitors were held off the scoreboard again until Walters made consecutive buckets at 6:34 and 5:40, making it 19-13, and junior Ryan Sasso's (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) trey with 1:13 remaining provided the next Lyon points. The Pride finished out the stanza by hitting 10 of its final 25 tries while going 10-of-11 on freebie attempts. Wheaton was mired in a 2-of-17 three-point performance by halftime and had yet to make a trip to the charity stripe. Springfield led 34-16 at the intermission.

The Lyons tried pushing their way back into the game during the second stanza, going 14-of-18 on free throws, committing just six turnovers and grabbing 10 offensive boards while finishing with a 45-44 advantage in scoring. However, Wheaton came no closer than 15 points in the final half despite forcing 12 giveaways, as the Pride shot 50.0 percent.

The Blue and White returns home to oppose Babson College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Lyons look to gain a measure of revenge against the team that eliminated them from the 2009 NEWMAC Tournament.