NORTON, Mass. - The Wheaton College men's basketball team saw visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) knock down 10 three-pointers to start the game, as the nationally-ranked Engineers notched a 78-46 victory in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium.

Wheaton falls to 7-14 on the season and 2-7 in the NEWMAC, while WPI, which is ranked 13th in the country by D3hoops.com, won for the 11th straight time to move to 18-3 and 8-0, as all but one of the Engineer wins during the streak have come by double figures.

Junior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) led a balanced scoring attack for the Lyons with 13 points, while freshman Will Bayliss (Manchester, N.H./Tilton School) notched 12 with three assists.  Senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) moved into second place on the school's all-time scoring list, as his 11 pushed him past Will Hawkins '93.  Coppola now has 1,782 points.

For WPI, which knocked down a season-high 13 treys while shooting 52 percent beyond the three-point stripe and 50.9 percent overall, senior Kyle Nadeau (Webster, Mass./Bartlett) led the way with five threes and 16 points, all taking place in the first half.  Classmate Jeffrey Robinson (Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) chipped in with 10 points, while junior Matt Carr (Somersworth, N.H./Saint Thomas Aquinas) added eight with six boards and three steals.

Tied at 12 six minutes into action, the visitors drained six consecutive threes over 2:57 for a 30-12 cushion at 10:54.  Nadeau had three triples in that stretch.  The hosts cut their deficit to 16 before eight straight WPI points made it a 40-16 game by 7:01.  Only seven points were scored the rest of the frame, with the Engineers holding a 43-20 halftime edge.

WPI continued its onslaught in the second half with eight straight points in the opening 1:32 for a 51-20 advantage and didn't look back.  Wheaton shot just 31.1 percent for the game and 23.5 percent from three-point territory while committing 21 turnovers.

The Lyons wrap up their three-game homestand on Wednesday night in the back end of a doubleheader against Babson College at 7:30 p.m.