NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team was defeated by No. 20 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 68-48, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons fall to 13-10 overall and 8-5 in league play, while the Engineers, who are ranked in the most recent D3hoops.com national coaches poll, win their fourth straight game and 12 of their last 13 to improve to 20-3 and 12-1.

WPI's defense was as good as its offense, holding the Lyons to just 29.6% (16-54) from the field and keeping the home team under 50 points to mark the 11th time this season that the Engineers have held their opposition to 50 or less. WPI's offense hit on 52.9% (27-51) of its shots from the field, including 52% or higher in each half. Wheaton was just 3-16 (18.8%) from three-point range for the game, while the visitors were 5-11 for a 45.5% success rate from long range.

Senior guard Alex Carlisle (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) led Wheaton with 15 points on 6-11 shooting to go with three boards, an assist and a steal and senior forward Aaron Williams (Springfield, Mass.) grabbed seven rebounds, netted five points and added three steals.

Senior forward John Lowther (Hingham, Mass.) (18) and sophomore forward Brett Marelli (Hampton, N.H.) (17) combined for 35 points to lead the Engineers. Lowther finished a rebound short of a double-double with nine and added three assists, two blocks and a steal for the Engineers, while Marelli was 6-9 from the floor to go with four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Sophomore guard Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) netted 13 points on 6-8 from the floor in addition to three assists and a rebound.

Carlisle converted a pair of free throws to cap a 6-1 spurt and pull the Lyons to within 35-31 with 15:57 showing on the second half clock, but WPI put together a 17-5 stretch, paced by five points from junior guard Donovan Sevilla (San Ramon, Calif.), to take a 52-36 lead with 9:02 left in the game. 

The Engineers maintained their advantage and junior guard Andrew Lufkin (Auburn, N.H.) made a layup to give them their largest lead of the night at 66-46 with 2:52 remaining in the contest, before coming away with a 20-point victory. 

The teams were tied at 5-5 with 16:08 to go in the opening half, before WPI scored six of the next seven points to take an 11-6 margin at the 13:21 mark of the period. 

Carlisle brought Wheaton to within a bucket at 12:06 to make it 13-11 and sophomore guard Ty Murphy (Dedham, Mass.) kept the Lyons within striking distance at 17-15 with a layup at the 8:46 mark. 

The Engineers gave themselves some breathing room following a 15-6 burst, behind seven points from Lowther and six from Marelli, to take a 32-21 lead with 1:45 left in the opening half. 

Wheaton cut the deficit to 32-25 following back-to-back layups from Carlisle and sophomore forward Duncan Bubar (Newton, Mass.) before heading to the locker rooms at halftime.

The Lyons return to action for their regular-season finale at home against NEWMAC rival Emerson College at Emerson Gymnasium for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off on Senior Day, while WPI hosts crosstown and league foe Clark University on the same day at 3:00 p.m.