CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Junior guard Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) scored 23 points to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team in a 90-79 loss to host Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference tilt at Rockwell Cage in Cambridge, Mass. The Lyons fall to 5-13 overall and 0-7 in conference play, while the Engineers improve to 10-7 and 3-4.

Wheaton shot 49.4% (29-59) from the floor, but MIT's prowess from beyond the three-point line was too much for the the Lyons to overcome as the home team knocked down 17 of 41 triples at a 41.5% clip. The Engineers were also 15-17 (88.2%) from the free throw line.

Carlisle was 5-6 from the line and added six rebounds, three assists and a steal for Wheaton. Junior guard Evan Cook (Dunstable, Mass.) matched his season high for the sixth time this year with 16 points on 5-7 from the floor to go with six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists. Junior forward Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) contributed with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks and sophomore guard Jaden Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) chipped in with a career-best 10 points, including 5-6 from the free throw line, and added three rebounds and a steal.

Senior guard Ian Hinkley (Raleigh, N.C.) drained nine three-pointers in 18 attempts, en-route to a game-high 29 points in addition to five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots to lead the Engineers. First year guard Kade Killeen (Austin, Texas) added to the home team's three-point attack with five trifectas to pace a 17-point effort off the bench to go with four rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Alex Cho (San Diego, Calif.) contributed with an all-around effort of 14 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and a pair of steals. 

Williams converted a lay-up to pull the Lyons even at 6-6 with 15:03 showing in the first half, but it was the closest Wheaton would get for the rest of the night. MIT reeled off 14 unanswered points as part of a 20-2 stretch, capped by the third three-ball of the run from Hinkley to give the Engineers a 26-8 lead with 10:17 left in the opening stanza. MIT later owned a 28-12 advantage before the Lyons scored 10 of the next 12 points, including six from Carlisle, to pull to within 30-22 with 4:23 to play in the half. The Engineers took a 37-27 margin into the intermission.

Wheaton scored the first five points of the second session, including a trey from Cook to cut the deficit to 37-32 just 50 seconds into the new half. Cho canned a three-pointer at the 15:28 mark to give MIT a double-digit lead at 51-39 that it would maintain for most of the remainder of the half. Hinkley continued the long-distance attack with a three-pointer to give the Engineers their largest lead of the game at 76-56 with 6:58 showing on the second half clock.

MIT maintained an 82-66 advantage with 4:46 to go in the game, before the Lyons scored eight straight points, including a pair of lay-ups from Carlisle, to get the margin under 10 points at 82-74 with 1:48 remaining in the game. The Engineers held off their guests for the rest of the game to secure the victory.

Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, January 29 when it travels to New London, Conn. to play NEWMAC rival United States Coast Guard Academy for the second time in six days in a 1:00 p.m. tip-off, while MIT heads to Worcester, Mass. for a 3:00 p.m. game at conference opponent Clark University.