VIDEO: Highlights from Wheaton/WPI

NORTON, Mass. – Senior Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, Mass./Worcester Academy) poured in a game-high 23 points to lead the Wheaton College men's basketball team to a 71-69 win over WPI in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action Wednesday night at Emerson Gymnasium.

Senior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) added 17 points and four assists as the Lyons (10-11, 3-6 NEWMAC) won their second-straight contest and swept the season series from the Engineers (16-5, 6-3 NEWMAC) for the first time since 2002-03. WPI held only two leads in the contest for a total of 52 seconds.

Sophomore Will Bayliss (Manchester, N.H./Tilton Academy) – who scored a career-high 23 points in the Lyons 65-51 win at then-No. 24 WPI earlier this season – chipped in with 15 points and five assists. Senior Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Saint Charles Academy) snared a team-high eight rebounds to go with four points and a pair of blocks.

WPI senior Matt Carr (Somersworth, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) scored a game-high 23 points but was held to just six in the second half. The Engineers held a 41-30 edge on the glass – led by nine from Carr – and trailed by 12 with six minutes to go before a 17-7 run to close the game nearly gave them their 17th win of the season.

The Lyons led by two (34-32) at the break behind 13 points from Weeks and seven from Degnan. Weeks knocked down three of his six shots from behind the arc while Degnan dished out three assists to pace the Lyons offense. Carr led all scorers with 17 points as the Engineers outscored the Lyons 24-14 in the paint in the opening 20 minutes. WPI shot 52 percent from the field while the Lyons connected on 47 percent of their shots.

Sparked by a pair of three's from Degnan, Wheaton opened the second half on a 13-5 run to take a 47-37 lead five minutes in. Over the next 10 minutes, the Lyons lead never dipped below five points, and they soon built a 64-52 lead behind a three-point play from Bayliss and a pair of layups by sophomore Brian Grossman (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury).  

The Engineers fronted a furious rally late as freshman Sam Longwell's (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxboro Regional) drained three 3-pointers in a span of 48 seconds to make it a 69-67 game with 44 seconds remaining. Degnan made one of his two free throws down the other end to push the lead to three (70-67) before senior Jaime Shannon (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) answered with a layup with 27 seconds left to again make it a one possession game at 70-69.

After fouling Bayliss and watching him make one of his two free throws, the Engineers got the ball back with 21 seconds remaining. WPI worked the clock under 10 seconds before Shannon drove to the lane for the tying score. His layup attempt sat on the front rim before falling to the ground as the horn sounded.

"It feels good to beat one of the best teams in New England twice in one season," said Lyons head coach Brian Walmsley. "I felt good for the guys. They knew they were in for a battle and led nearly the entire game. We knew WPI would come out fired up after we beat them at their place, but our guys responded every time they made a run. I was glad to see Brendan, Anthony, and Shawn play so well with only a few more home games left for them. I definitely think this will help our confidence, especially when we shoot the ball as well as we did tonight. Hopefully, it can bleed over into the next couple of weeks."

The Engineers finished the evening shooting 48 percent (30-of-63) but made just three of their 15 attempts from behind the three-point line. Wheaton, meanwhile, also shot 48 percent from the field (26-of-54) but hit on 8-of-20 three-pointers.

Shannon finished with 19 points and five assists for WPI, which also received 11 points, six boards and four steals from Longwell. Grossman tallied seven points.

The Lyons play the final regular-season home game of the season on Saturday when they host Coast Guard at 2 p.m. Prior to the start of the game, Wheaton will honor seniors Degnan, Daily, Weeks, and Bruno Naylor (Santa Monica, Calif./Northfield Mount Hermon School). WPI hosts Springfield Saturday at 2 p.m.