NEWPORT, RI- Sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) scored eight of his career-high 37 points, the most by a Wheaton College men's basketball underclassman in nearly 19 years, in the final 2:21, rallying the Lyons from one point down to an 83-75 victory over Salve Regina University on Tuesday at Rodgers Recreation Center. Wheaton is 3-0 for the second straight season, while the Seahawks slipped to 1-1.

A personal 8-0 run late in the first half by Coppola put the visitors up 16 points with 2:30 left in the stanza, but Salve Regina stormed back to recapture the lead at 71-70 with 4:34 remaining in regulation. However, Coppola's lay-up at 2:21 put the Lyons back ahead for good, sparking a game-ending 13-4 run, during which the Seahawks were only able to muster four free throws.

To begin the contest, Salve Regina hit consecutive three-point attempts, but a balanced Wheaton scoring effort brought it from behind and into the lead. Nine different Blue and White players tallied at least one point in the opening stanza, led by Coppola's 18. With his team down 17-16, sophomore Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) canned a three at the 10:20 mark to ignite a 24-7 run.

A jumper by junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) pushed the Lyons to a 30-18 advantage by 7:16, and after the Seahawks trimmed their deficit to eight points for the second time, Coppola took over, draining a jumper with 3:07 to go and canning long-range shots at 2:50 and 2:30 to make it 40-24. After a pair of Salve Regina hoops made it a 12-point game, Coppola dropped another lay-up at the 47-second mark, and the Lyons took a 43-31 lead into the locker room.

The Seahawks matched their first-half offensive output 7:54 into the second stanza, pulling within 64-62 after trailing by as many as 12 points three times early in the period. Coppola's bucket made it 66-62 with 11:39 left, but neither team scored again until a Salve Regina free throw at 7:31.

After Lyon junior Ben Stehle's (Newton, MA/Newton South) hoop with 5:21 to go gave Wheaton a 70-65 edge, the hosts took the lead back after three-pointers by seniors Jabreche Boyd (West Haven, CT/Notre Dame) and Justin Woodworth (Ipswich, MA/Ipswich) on their next two possessions for their only field goals in the final 12:05. During that time, the Seahawks shot 2-of-14, including 2-of-9 from deep, and neither team scored after Woodworth's trey at 4:34 until Coppola's heroics.

Coppola's 37 points matched the record for a Lyon underclassman, as Will Hawkins '93 reached the plateau as a freshman on January 30, 1990. Coppola shot 15-of-21 from the floor, including 12-of-13 from two-point territory, while tying Hawkins' school record for field goals set on January 13, 1990. Sophomore Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI/East Providence) was the only other Wheaton player in double figures, totaling 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with five assists and three steals. Stehle snared 10 boards and had four helpers. As a team, the Lyons shot 57.1 percent from the field.

Woodworth went 6-of-13 from three-point range en route to 29 points for the Seahawks, while Boyd had 17 points. Sophomore Windell Hinkson (Groton, CT/Robert E. Fitch) totaled 13 points, four helpers and four steals for a team that went 12-of-31 from beyond the arc but hit only 12 two-point shots.

Wheaton begins its home slate on Thursday against Emerson College at 7:00 p.m.