NORTON, MA- Behind 70.8-percent shooting in the second half, the Wheaton College men's basketball team knocked off regional heavyweight Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 91-79 in the teams' New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener on Wednesday evening in Emerson Gymnasium.

Now 5-6, the Lyons closed out a five-game stretch during which they faced four teams that advanced to the 2009 NCAA Tournament. WPI, which was drawing national votes from D3hoops.com, fell to 10-2. The Engineers earned at least a share of the past six NEWMAC regular season titles, qualified for the past five NCAA Tournaments and went 33-3 in league play over the previous three seasons.

En route to shooting 17-of-24 in the second half, Wheaton went 6-of-8 from three-point range and 14-of-15 on free-throw tries. For the game, the Lyons shot 89.5 percent from the charity stripe, 58.2 percent from the floor and 58.8 percent from deep. Junior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) tallied a double-double with game highs of 29 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 10-of-17 overall, including 4-of-5 on triples. Senior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) netted 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting with four assists after missing five games, and sophomore Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) had 10 points and six helpers.

For WPI, junior Kyle Nadeau (Webster, MA/Bartlett) shot 7-of-9, including 6-of-6 from deep, while tallying a career-high 20 points. Classmate Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) had 16 points, and junior Ben Etten (Hollis, NH/Hollis-Brookline) turned in 14. Sophomore Jamie Shannon (Lowell, MA/Lowell) added 10 off the bench. The Engineers went 10-of-21 from three but just 11-of-21 at the charity stripe.

Wheaton extended its 37-35 halftime advantage to 47-42 early in the second stanza, as Coppola and Leo combined for each of the Lyons' first 12 points. WPI regrouped with an 11-2 run, charging ahead at 53-49 with 14:30 left on Robinson's three. However, Lyon freshman Scott Faucher (Lebanon, NH/Kimball Union Academy) hit a pair of threes during a span of less than two minutes, with the second knotting the contest at 55.

Freshman Cliften Desravines (Somerville, MA/Taft School) later accounted for three straight Wheaton hoops, the second a dunk, to put the Lyons on top 63-59 at 9:20. A Leo breakaway lay-in made it 65-61 before Robinson's lay-up at 7:04 tied the teams at 65, but Leo scored on another breakout pass to put the hosts on top for good at 6:58, sparking an 11-2 run during which Faucher buried another three. WPI drew within 71-67 at 4:39 on an Etten bucket but came no closer, as Wheaton eventually led by as many as 17 with 1:19 remaining.

Early on, Wheaton trailed 7-4 before Leo carried the Lyons during a 9-1 run, scoring seven points in that time. By burying a three-pointer at 13:30, he gave the hosts a 13-8 advantage. Thanks to nine points and an assist from Leo, the Lyons held a 16-11 lead and were buoyed by a 7-of-11 showing from the field. WPI rallied back to force a 16-all tie, but seven straight Wheaton points, including five by Coppola, made it 23-16. However, four different Engineers tallied during an 8-0 run, as WPI nabbed a 24-23 edge on Shannon's transition lay-up at 5:25.

The visitors hung on to a 32-28 advantage with a little more than 3:30 left before halftime, but Wheaton finished the period on a 9-3 run, with five points coming from freshman P.J. Walters (Hempstead, NY/Saint Dominic) and the other four off the hand of Coppola. The Lyons forced 13 turnovers in the first half while committing just seven. Despite WPI going 5-of-8 from three-point range, the Engineers shot 8-of-15 from the charity stripe. Coppola had 13 points at break, while Nadeau totaled 12 for WPI.

Wheaton continues its NEWMAC slate by hosting Clark University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the first half of a doubleheader with the women's team.