NORTON, Mass. - The Wheaton College men's basketball team saw its season come to a close on Saturday afternoon, as visiting United States Coast Guard Academy landed the fifth and final New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament berth following its 68-65 victory over the Lyons in Emerson Gymnasium.

Wheaton finishes its year with an 8-16 overall mark and a 3-9 conference record, while the Bears will travel to fourth seed Babson College for Wednesday's opening round at a time to be determined.  Coast Guard, which got needed help with first-place Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) defeating Clark University, improved to 10-13 and 5-7.

Wheaton junior Bruno Naylor (Los Angeles, Calif./Northfield Mount Hermon School) notched a career-high-tying 12 points and career-best seven rebounds, while classmate Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) contributed 11 points.  On Senior Day, senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) neared a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.  He leaves Wheaton ranked second on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,863 points.

Lyon freshman Will Bayliss (Manchester, N.H./Tilton School) chipped in with 10 points and four assists, while sophomore Mike Hall (Lynnfield, Mass./Saint John's Prep) finished with nine markers and seven boards.

Freshman Kevin Sowers (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) paced Coast Guard with 19 points, while senior Jevon James (Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands/New Mexico Military Institute) recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.  Freshman Devonte Weems (Chesapeake Beach, Md./Huntingtown) tallied 12 markers, and sophomore Jimmy Knudsen (Ridge, N.Y./Longwood) pulled down 11 boards.

A bleak offensive showing by both teams didn't see a field goal scored until the visitors drained a three at 13:14 to make the score 7-5 in Coast Guard's favor, as the Bears and Lyons combined to go 0-of-15 to start the game.  Trailing 9-5, Wheaton ripped off 14 unanswered points during a 3:53 span to gain a 19-9 advantage.  The Lyons stretched their lead to 32-18 at the 2:17 mark before carrying a 36-25 advantage into the locker room.

The hosts held a double-digit lead for the bulk of the first half of the second frame before going nearly 10 minutes without a bucket.  Leading 50-38 with 11:58 to go, Wheaton missed its next nine shots and found itself trailing 62-54 at 2:30.  Conversely, the Bears made six of their 11 attempts in that span while scoring nine points from the charity stripe.  Down 67-60 with 17 ticks left, Coppola hit two freebies and, after a Coast Guard free throw that put the margin at six, Degnan drained a three with nine ticks left.  Following a Bear turnover and Lyon timeout, Wheaton's last-gasp three to tie fell off the mark.