NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team was defeated by visiting Clark University, 82-61, this evening in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Emerson Gymnasium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. The Lyons slip to 7-15 overall and 2-9 in league play, while the Cougars have won three of their last four and improve to 17-5 and 6-5.

Clark shot 53.2% (33-62) for the game, including 61.8% (21-34) in the second half and controlled the boards with a 37-23 advantage, including 12 offensive rebounds. The Cougars made a living down low, outscoring Wheaton in the paint, 40-18. The Lyons were unable to get any offense going from the outside, shooting just 23.1% (6-26) from three-point range.

Junior guard Evan Cook (Dunstable, Mass.) netted 13 points on 5-8 shooting for Wheaton and added three steals, an assist and a rebound. Junior forward Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) contributed with 12 points, three rebounds and a pair of steals and junior forward Sam Manganello (Falmouth, Maine) came off the bench to net nine points on 3-5 shooting to go with an assist in just 10 minutes.

First year guard Isaiah Taylor (Lawrence, Mass.) (23) and graduate student forward Tyler Davern (Webster, Mass.) (22) combined to score 45 points to lead Clark. Taylor was 10-14 from the floor and added four rebounds, three assists and three steals for Clark, while Davern pulled down eight rebounds and was 8-11 from the field to go with an assist. Sophomore guard Mikey O'Brien (New York, N.Y.) chipped in with seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.

First year forward Duncan Bubar (Newton, Mass.) made a lay-up to pull the Lyons to within 42-36 with 14:14 left in the second half, but the Cougars took control of the game for good after going on a 15-1 blitz to take a 57-37 lead at the 10:11 mark. First year guard Kyle Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the outburst with six points for the visitors.

Wheaton didn't back down, responding with a 13-4 stretch, capped by a three-pointer from first year guard Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) to cut the deficit to 61-50 with 6:43 showing in the second stanza. It was as close as the Lyons would get though. Clark increased its lead to 72-54 after an 11-4 run and a three-point play competed with a free throw from Taylor at 4:21 of the half. Davern gave the Cougars their biggest lead with the final points of the night on a trifecta with 57 ticks left on the clock.

Clark owned a 31-27 lead after a sloppy first half that saw both teams combine for 24 turnovers. The Cougars raced out to a 10-2 lead, including five points each from O'Brien and Taylor. Wheaton closed to within 12-10 after junior guard Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) capped an 8-2 run with a pull-up jumper at the 12:20 mark of the opening half.

A pair of home free throws from Williams kept it a two-point game in favor of Clark at 18-16 with 7:44 remaining in the half. The Cougars put together a 10-2 stretch, including five points from Davern, to take a 28-18 advantage with 4:05 showing on the first half clock. The Lyons scored the final six points of the half, including a trifecta from Manganello, to bring them to within four points at the break.

Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, February 12 when it hosts NEWMAC rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology for its final regular season home game at 1:00 p.m. at Emerson Gymnasium, while Clark heads to Babson Park, Mass. to take on league foe Babson College on the same day at 3:00 p.m.