NORTON, MA- Six players scored at least eight points, led by junior Anthony Coppola's (Watertown, MA/Watertown) 20, and the Wheaton College men's basketball team stunned 11th-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 84-77 for the second time this season on Wednesday evening in Emerson Gymnasium.

The Lyons, 9-14 overall and 5-6 in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), remained the lone Division III squad to defeat the Engineers this year. Wheaton netted the second-most points by a Division III team against MIT as the Engineers, who stand 11th in this week's D3hoops.com poll, fell to 21-3 and 9-2. MIT boasts the sixth-ranked scoring defense in Division III, coming in yielding just 57.6 points.

The contest was the Lyons' final regular season home game, as they remained alive to be seeded as high as third in next week's NEWMAC Tournament. The Lyons finish their regular season slate on Saturday at the United States Coast Guard Academy at 1:00 p.m., with a win clinching them a home postseason game.

Wheaton was buoyed by 62.5-percent three-point shooting, matching the sixth-best figure in program history, thanks to a 10-of-16 showing, including 6-of-8 in the second half, while MIT was only 8-of-31. At the charity stripe, the Lyons were 24-of-27, including 20-of-23 in the final half, while the visitors didn't make a freebie until 2:49 remained. They finished 5-of-8 and took 82 shots from the floor to Wheaton's 53.

Coppola hit three three-pointers while snagging a team-high seven rebounds, and sophomore Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) was 5-of-8 off the bench for 15 points. Classmate Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) tallied 12 points, six boards and five helpers, while senior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) totaled 12 points and five blocks in his final regular season home game. Classmate Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) had nine points, and freshman Brian Johnson (Roxbury, MA/Brimmer and May School) added eight.

Freshman Mitchell Kates (Colts Neck, NJ/Phillips Exeter Academy) paced MIT with 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while sophomore Noel Hollingsworth (Salt Lake City, UT/Judge Memorial Catholic) added a double-double of 21 points and 11 boards. Freshman reserve Jimmy Burke (Scotch Plains, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) totaled 15 points, while classmate Will Tashman (Atherton, CA/Menlo School) grabbed seven caroms.

Wheaton used a 17-0 run to erase a 10-point first-half deficit, completing the stretch by taking a 41-34 advantage on a Stehle three with 16:09 remaining. MIT quickly crept back into the contest with six straight points, but the Lyons later extended a 44-43 lead thanks to a 21-9 run, pulling ahead by as many as 13 with freshman Cliften Desravines' (Somerville, MA/Taft School) tip-in making the score 65-52 at 6:55.

The Lyons still led by 11, at 69-58, after Weeks hit a pair of free throws with 5:01 to go, but the Engineers trimmed their deficit to 77-74 with 52 seconds remaining after Kates hit three straight free throws due to consecutive Wheaton fouls. Two Leo free throws at 50 ticks again made it a five-point game, but Hollingsworth converted a three-point play with 36 seconds remaining to produce a 79-77 margin. However, Wheaton salted the game away from the line, going 5-of-6 on freebies in the final 32 seconds. Two Degnan free throws put the Lyons up 81-77, and Weeks blocked an Engineer shot before a foul led to Stehle canning two more free throws. A trio of MIT threes went off the mark in the final 16 seconds, and Coppola completed the scoring with a freebie.

Wheaton used a 9-0 run to grab a 14-6 advantage at 15:32 of the opening half, as Coppola scored the first five points, and Wheaton started 7-of-10, including 3-of-4 from deep, en route to a 17-11 lead following Leo's three with 13:14 remaining. However, MIT scored the next 18 points while holding Wheaton scoreless for 7:01. Hollingsworth notched the first six points to knot the game at 17 before Burke netted the next five. By the time Burke nailed a three with 7:07 to go, the Engineers held a 29-17 advantage. After the Lyons trailed 34-24, Coppola hit two freebies before Weeks made it 34-28 by halftime thanks to a lay-up high off the glass with 38 seconds to go.