Gregory goes for 13 points, eight rebounds in loss

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team came up just short against No. 12 ranked WPI on Wednesday night as the Lyons fell on the road by a score of 58-46 inside Harrington Auditorium in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup.

WPI (21-3, 11-2 NEWMAC), ranked 12th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll and fifth in the NCAA Division III New England regional rankings, claimed its ninth conference regular season title in the last 11 years and is in position to host the NEWMAC Tournament semifinals and championship on Saturday, March 1st and Sunday, March 2nd with its win over the Lyons (8-14, 3-10 NEWMAC).

Wheaton freshman Agyei Gregory (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands/St. Andrews) finished with 13 points and eight rebounds to fuel the Lyons' offense. Classmate Quinton Dale (Winthrop, Mass./Taft School) collected seven point and nine rebounds and senior guard Will Bayliss (Manchester, N.H./Tilton School) had six points, four assists and one rebound.

The Engineers received a double-double from junior forward Domenick Mastascusa (North Reading, Mass./Malden Catholic) as he netted 12 points, hauled in 11 rebounds (four offensive) and had one block. Classmate Sam Longwell (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxboro) aided the squad with 13 points, five rebounds and assist, while junior Matt Harrington (Shrewsbury, Mass./St. John's) compiled 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting including a 2-for-4 performance from long range. Senior forward Ryan Kolb (Southington, Conn./Holy Cross) contributed seven points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Wheaton won the matchup on the glass by a slim 40-39 margin, but WPI shot 45.1-percent (23-for-51) from the field, held a 22-12 advantage in the paint and a 23-13 differential in bench points for the victory.

Ahead 34-30 at the 15:50 mark, the Engineers strung together nine-straight points for the decisive rally to make it 43-30 with 11:25 remaining. WPI junior forward Wil Michalski (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) scored five points over 11 minutes, but four of them came during that key stretch. Freshman guard Marcus Middleton (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) also added a trey at the 12:47 mark and Mastascusa got the run going with 14:43 left on the scoreboard.

Gregory countered with a jumper at the 10:56 mark to dwindle the deficit to 43-32 and added a free throw before freshman center Alex Sugarman (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) and junior guard Jaycob Morales (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic) both went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to come within eight points (43-35).

Harrington drained a three-pointer on WPI's next trip down, followed by a Mastascusa bucket the possession after that as the Engineers never looked back.

The lead changed hands eight times in the first half, and the score pulled to a tie five times early on, but WPI jumped to its greatest advantage in the opening frame seven minutes into the contest after Kolb got to the hoop to make it 12-8 Engineers.

Wheaton came right back though, taking a 13-12 lead 9:14 in after a Bayliss jumper and a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn./Taft School).

Neither team led by more than two points the rest of the first half until Longwell knocked down a three-pointer with 41-seconds left to set the halftime score at 26-23 WPI. Longwell made five field goals in the opening 13:16, scoring ten of WPI's first 19 points.

Wheaton (8-14, 3-10 NEWMAC) wraps up its season against Emerson this Saturday at home with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. WPI (21-3, 11-2 NEWMAC) caps off its regular season on the road this Saturday against Clark at 3 p.m.

For the latest on Wheaton College Athletics, follow the Lyons via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.