BOSTON, Mass. -- Junior forward Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team in a 93-76 loss to host Emerson College this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Brown and Plofker Gym in Boston, Mass. The Lyons finish their season with an overall record of 8-17 and a NEWMAC mark of 3-11, while the Lions improve to 17-6 and 10-4.

Emerson earns the number three seed in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament and will travel to take on second-seeded Babson College on Thursday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the semifinals.

The Lions shot 45.8% (33-72) from the floor, but were even better from long range, canning 15 of their 30 three-point tries for a 50% clip. Wheaton was held to 39.4% (26-66) from the field, including 4-19 (21.1%) from three-point territory.

Williams finishes the season by scoring 30 or more points for the third time and posting his sixth double-double of the year for the Lyons. He was 11-19 from the floor and added a pair of steals for the Lyons. Junior guard Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) scored 12 points to go with six rebounds and two assists, while classmate Evan Cook (Dunstable, Mass.) also netted 12 points and added four assists, a rebound and a steal. First year forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) contributed with 10 points, nine rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. 

Senior point guard Chad DiCenzo (Andover, Mass.) led Emerson with 17 points on 6-8 shooting in addition to nine rebounds, two assists and a steal, while senior guard Trevor McLean (Boston, Mass.) and junior guard James Beckwith (Palo Alto, Calif.) each drained four three-pointers and scored 14 points apiece. Beckwith aslo pulled down five rebounds, handed out two assists and came up with a steal. Senior center Jarred Houston (Norwood, Mass.) posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds to go with five assists and five blocked shots.

The teams were separated by no more than six points during the first 15:32 of the game, but the Lions never trailed at any point during the contest. Williams converted the second of two free throws to pull Wheaton to within 25-22 with 4:28 left to play in the opening half. Emerson started to put some distance between itself and the visitors with a 13-2 run, which included three trifetcas, including a trey from Beckwith to give the Lions a 38-24 advantage with 54 ticks left on the first half clock. Thaher drilled a three-pointer with 27 seconds left to make it a 38-27 halftime score in favor of Emerson.

The Lions scored the first six points of the second half as part of a 15-5 stretch, fueled by a trio of three-pointers from McLean, to give the home team a 53-32 lead with 15:38 remaining in the stanza. Wheaton answered with an 8-2 run, paced by six points from Carlisle, to cut the deficit to 55-40. Emerson maintained its lead for the rest of the contest and owned a 78-62 lead at the 4:28 mark of the half. The Lions reeled off six unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the game at 84-62 with 3:30 left to play.