NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team fell in the season-finale to visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 79-46, this afternoon in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference contest at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 15-9 overall and 9-7 in league play and suffer just their second loss at home (10-2) for the year. Wheaton finishes the season as the number three seed in the NEWMAC Tournament and will host sixth-seeded Emerson College on Tuesday, February 20 at 7:00 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium for the tournament's first round. 

The Engineers finish the regular season by winning 10 of their last 11 and improve to 21-4 on the year, including 14-2 in league play to claim the regular season title and the number one seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championship Tournament for the third straight year. WPI's conference win total is the highest in school history. The Engineers, who earned the first round bye, will host the winner of fourth-seeded Babson and fifth-seeded Coast Guard in a semifinal game on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

Prior to the game, the Lyons honored their lone senior, Jaden Keliher (Amesbury, Mass.) in his final regular-season home game at Emerson Gymnasium.

WPI shot over 50% in each half and owned a 53.3% (32-60) mark for the game, while owning a 25-8 advantage in points off turnovers. The Engineers committed 12 miscues, while Wheaton was charged with 19 turnovers. WPI also held a 34-28 margin on the glass.

Senior forward John Adams (Douglas, Mass.) missed just one shot and scored 16 points to lead the Engineers. Adams was 8-9 from the field and added seven rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes of action. WPI saw 11 different players enter the scoring column, including Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.), who netted 12 points on 5-7 shooting to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal and senior guard Andrew Lufkin (Auburn, N.H.), who contributed with eight points, three boards, a trio of steals and two assists in 17 minutes.

First year guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) led the Lyons with 14 points, including a perfect 6-6 from the line in addition to four rebounds and two steals, while sophomore forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) scored 10 points, pulled down four rebounds, handed out an assist and came up with a steal.

Morrissey converted a layup for Wheaton early in the first half to cut the deficit to 6-4 at the 18:09 mark, but that was as close as the home team would get for the remainder of the game. The Engineers went on a 9-2 run, paced by four points from Adams, to take a 15-6 advantage with 12:59 to go in the half. Junior forward Khaled Thaher (Amman, Jordan) made a layup with 9:53 showing in the opening half to pull the Lyons within 17-12. 

WPI effectively put the game out of reach following a 22-4 stretch, fueled by eight points from Adams and a pair of three-pointers from Callahan, to give the visitors a commanding 39-16 cushion with 1:42 left in the first half. Wheaton scored the final five points of the stanza on free throws to cut the halftime margin to 39-21.

Iafrate sank both free throws to keep the margin at 18 with the Lyons trailing, 43-25, with 16:45 to play in the game. The Engineers put together the final knockout punch with a 25-6 run, capped by a three-pointer from J.R. Newman (Havertown, Pa.) to put WPI up, 68-31, with 6:55 showing on the second half clock. The visitors held their host without a point for a stretch of 5:21 during the run.

Morrissey converted a pair of free throws for Wheaton to cut the deficit to 70-36 at the 5:36 mark, before the Engineers scored six unanswered points, including a layup from first year guard Ryan MacLellan (Andover, Mass.) to give WPI its largest lead of the afternoon at 76-36 with 3:47 remaining in the game. The Lyons closed the contest with a 10-3 burst, led by four points each from sophomore guards Chris Billone (Windham, N.H.) and Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.), to set the final at 79-46.