NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team nearly withstood Emerson College's barrage of three-pointers before falling in its home opener, 100-97 in double overtime on Thursday evening in Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons fell to 3-1, being denied the second 4-0 start in program history, while the visitors won their opener while taking their second straight meeting from Wheaton after losing the first 13. The Lions, who led Division III in shooting percentage last year, received national votes for five weeks during the 2007-08 season.

Wheaton pushed out to a 44-38 lead at 16:21 of the second half, but Emerson responded with nine straight points during a 1:22 span, taking the lead on freshman Drew Venter's (Boston, MA/Mansfield) three. The Lyons pulled within one point four times before freshman Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) converted a three-point play to give his squad a 56-54 edge at 8:21.

Freshman Alex Dempsey (Anchorage, AK/West) nailed a three from the corner just 21 seconds later, giving Emerson the lead right back. The Lions twice extended their lead to four points before Wheaton sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) drew the teams even at 65 with 3:34 to play. That proved to be the second of six second-half ties, two of which occurred in the final 14.2 seconds. After Coppola's driving lay-up put the Lyons on top with 26.8 ticks to go, Dempsey's bucket with 14.2 seconds remaining knotted the score. Weeks' reverse lay-in and ensuing free throw gave the hosts a 75-72 edge with 7.0 left, but junior Jeremy Shannon (Lowell, MA/Canterbury School) canned an off-balance three from the top of the key with 0.2 showing.

In the first overtime period, Coppola scored the first bucket and dished off for the second to make it 79-75, but consecutive treys by the Lions put them on top by two before Weeks knotted the game at 81 with 2:09 to go. Shannon drained another three from five feet beyond the arc at 47 ticks, but Wheaton sophomore Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) converted a three-point play with 23.8 left, spinning in the lane and banking the ball off glass for his bucket. The Lyons regained possession after an Emerson miss but could not get a shot off.

The teams played through three more ties in the second extra session, with free throws by Coppola forcing the final two, the 12th and 13th of the game. However, a Dempsey three with 1:20 left put Emerson on top for good. A Coppola hoop at 20.7 again made it a 98-97 contest, but two Emerson free throws at 14.2 created the final margin, and a Lyon three from the corner with time winding down was off the mark.

In the opening stanza, a 7-0 Wheaton run pushed it to a 9-5 edge by 14:29, but Emerson later scored six straight and captured an 18-15 edge before the Lyons came back. Down by a 20-19 count, Wheaton ran off eight straight points to take a 27-20 lead on senior Nick Michel's (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) basket at 4:37. The visiting Lions whittled their deficit to 33-32 by halftime, scoring the final three points on free throws.

Coppola led Wheaton with 23 points while going 5-of-7 from the charity stripe and snagging a game-high-tying nine rebounds. He reached the 100-point mark for the season, becoming the first Lyon to reach the plateau in his team's initial four games. Sasso turned in 19 points and three steals, while Weeks collected 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting, turning in a 7-of-8 showing on free-throw tries. Junior Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) shot 7-of-10 for 17 points.

Junior Bryan Rouse (East Greenwich, RI/Toll Gate) notched a game-high 28 points for Emerson, going 9-of-12 at the line, while Shannon shot 5-of-7 from deep en route to a near-triple-double of 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Dempsey finished with 17 points, and Venter shot 5-of-6 for 15 points. The Lions shot just 2-of-7 from three-point range in the opening period before going 11-of-16 after halftime.

The Lyons return to action on Tuesday when they host Salem State College at 8:00 p.m.