CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College men's basketball team traveled to MIT on Wednesday evening, falling to the Engineers, 74-53, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action.

The loss drops the Lyons to 8-9 on the year and 2-5 in conference action. MIT improves to 13-4 overall and 5-2 in the NEWMAC.

Liam Bruno finished with 16 points for Wheaton, while Quinton Dale led the Lyons with four rebounds and three steals.

MIT was led by 21 points from freshman Bradley Jomard (Paris, France) and 20 points from senior Ryan Frankel(New York, N.Y.). 

Five minutes into the game, the two sided had battled to a 9-9 tie before Wheaton pulled ahead by four on back-to-back baskets from Dale and Bruno. The Lyons still led by four with 10:31 left in the half before a pair of threes by Jomard led MIT on an 8-0 run that gave the Engineers a 19-15 advantage.

Wheaton came back within one with five minutes left on a free throw by senior Billy Battaglia, but MIT answered with a pair of free throws from senior Justin Pedley and the Engineers went on to out score the Lyons 10-3 to close out the half with a 34-26 lead.

MIT quickly made it a 10-point game early in the second half and the Engineers did not let Wheaton get closer than seven over the first 10 minutes of the half. With 9:16 left the Lyons pulled back within six at 51-45 when Dale hit for two of his 16 points, but a pair of triples from Frankel, who hit a career-high six for the game, keyed a 13-0 run over a four-minute span that decided the contest.

Pedley hit another pair of free throws to cap the run with five minutes to go, giving MIT a 64-45 lead. Wheaton could get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way as the Engineers went on to close the first half of the NEWMAC season with a victory.

Wheaton travels to Coast Guard on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 3:00 p.m.