NORTON, Mass. – Despite a 12 point lead at the half, the Wheaton College men's basketball team could not hold off visiting MIT on Saturday afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action, falling 71-63.

The Lyons fall to 9-13 on the season and 3-9 in NEWMAC action, while the Engineers improve to 18-5 overall (9-3 NEWMAC).

Billy Battaglia paced Wheaton with 25 points on an 8-13 day from the floor and 7-9 performance from the free-throw line. Sophomore Ryan Fogarty added 14 points for Wheaton, with freshman David Carbonello chipping in 11 more. Junior Quinton Dale led Wheaton with 12 boards.

Senior Justin Pedley scored 18 of his 27 points in the final 20 minutes to lead MIT to the win. Bradley Jomard finished with 19 points and Frankel 12 for MIT. Freshman Tim Roberts came off the bench to lead MIT with 15 rebounds.

It was all Wheaton in the first half, as the Lyons defense held MIT to just 29 percent shooting over the initial 20 minutes. The Engineers connected on just one of their first 10 shots and Wheaton, led by seven points from junior Timothy Berry, jumped out to an 11-2 lead on his trey.

MIT could not recover from the slow start, and Wheaton held a double-digit lead for most of the half. Battaglia scored six straight points to push the Lyons' advantage to 19-4 before a three by freshman Jomard  and a Pedley layup brought MIT back within 10 at 19-9. Wheaton held the Engineers at bay for the rest of the half as Battaglia finished with 13 points to lead the Lyons to a 32-20 lead going into the locker room.

Wheaton still led by 10 three minutes into the second half when Battaglia hit on a free throw to make it 35-25. Pedley then sank four consecutive shots from the free throw line and went on to score nine straight points for the Engineers, drawing them within three at 37-34 when he sank a trey at 13:37.

With the help of a Battaglia three, Wheaton held on to the lead for another four minutes until a pair of free throws by Jomard midway through the half completed the comeback and tied the game at 44-all. Neither team could pull away over the next four minutes, with the game tied again at 53-53 with seven minutes to go.

Pedley hit another pair of free throws with five minutes left and it started an 8-0 run that gave MIT a lead that it would not relinquish. Senior Ryan Frankel scored the final six of the spurt that had the Engineers on top, 61-53, with two and a half minutes left. Wheaton crept back within five with a minute left on a pair of free throws from Battaglia, but MIT went 6-for-6 from the free throw line after that to hold off the Lyons and ice the win.

Wheaton returns to action on Wed. Feb. 17, traveling to WPI for a 7:30 p.m. tip.

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