NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's basketball team had its four-game win streak snapped by No. 19 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 68-55, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 9-8 on the season and 4-4 in league play, while the Engineers, who are ranked in the most recent D3basketball.com national poll, win their seventh straight game and improve to 15-2 and 7-1.
WPI's defense held Wheaton to just 32.8% (21-64) shooting and denied the home squad from beyond the three-point arc on its first 16 attempts. The Lyons were held to just 17.6% (6-34) from long range. The Engineers shot 41.1% (23-56) from the floor and owned a 44-34 rebounding advantage.
Junior forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, Mass.) led Wheaton with a game-high 12 points on 6-12 from the field to go with 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the year in addition to two assists. Junior guard Tristan Herry (East Taunton, Mass.) dropped in nine points, pulled down a rebound and dished for an assist.
WPI boasted five players with double-digit scoring efforts, including senior guard Tim Reidy (Needham, Mass.), who netted 13 points and was 3-5 from three-point territory to go with three assists, a steal and a rebound. Sophomore guard Justin Molen (Newark, Del.) was a perfect 4-4 from the floor, hitting all three tries from long range as part of a 12-point night, and added five boards, two assists and a pair of steals in 21 minutes of play. Senior forward Brett Marelli (Hampton, N.H.) netted 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out three assists, while senior guard Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Sophomore guard Dimetri Iafrate (Johnston, R.I.) gave the Lyons their only lead of the game with a layup to open the first half and give the home team a 2-0 lead at the 18:14 mark. The Engineers scored 11 of the next 12 points, including five from Callahan, to take an 11-3 advantage with 12:04 to play in the opening stanza.
Morrissey hit a jumper in the paint to keep Wheaton within 18-11 with 6:20 showing on the first half clock, before WPI put together a 19-8 stretch, fueled by a trio of triples from Reidy, to take a 37-19 cushion with 33 ticks remaining in the first half. Herry scored on a layup for the final points of the period to set the count at 37-21 at the intermission.
Junior guard Sal Pedevillano (Parsippany, N.J.) knocked down the Lyons' first three-ball of the night, after the hosts went the first half without a long-distance make, to cut the deficit to 40-24 with 17:25 left in the game. The Engineers went on an 11-3 run, paced by six points from Molen, to expand its advantage to 51-27 at 14:38 for their largest lead of the evening.
Wheaton closed to within 57-41 with 10:50 to go, after a 14-6 string that saw first year guard Sean Perri (West Roxbury, Mass.) net five points. Junior guard J.R. Newman (Havertown, Pa.) drilled a trifecta with 2:58 remaining in the contest to bump the WPI lead back to 20 at 66-46, but the Lyons closed out the game with a 9-2 burst, capped by a three-pointer from first year guard Caden Smith (Gorham, Maine), to make it a 68-55 final.
The Engineers return to the court on Saturday, January 25 when they head to Newport, R.I. to take on NEWMAC foe Salve Regina University at 3:00 p.m., while Wheaton also hits the road to take on conference rival Clark University in Worcester, Mass. on the same day at 4:00 p.m.
