Men's Basketball (6-2) Finishes First Semester with 3-1 Stretch, Suffers Lone Loss by One

The Wheaton College men's basketball team finished out the first semester by winning three of its final four games, beginning with an 89-73 victory over visiting Salem State College on November 25. The Lyons returned from Thanksgiving break with a 53-46 win at Connecticut College on Tuesday and a 75-55 triumph over Roger Williams University in Norton on Thursday before falling, 75-74 to visiting Bridgewater State College on Saturday. During its contest with the Camels, Wheaton and its opponent combined for fewer than 100 points for the first time since January 15, 2004, against Newbury College.

Against Salem State, which went to the past two NCAA Tournaments, the Lyons breezed out to a double-digit lead and held off a rally. Sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) netted 24 points, going 8-of-8 on free-throw tries while contributing five assists, and classmate Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI/East Providence) shot 3-of-4 from three-point range en route to 16 points. Junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) was 6-of-7 for 14 points with eight rebounds, and sophomore Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) tallied 14 points and four helpers.

Coppola netted 26 points, nearly half of his team's offense, while notching exactly half of Wheaton's 18 field goals and 12 free throws during a low-scoring victory at Connecticut College. Perry had nine points, while Leo grabbed eight rebounds for the Lyons, who were 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

The Blue and White turned a one-point, second-half deficit into a 16-point lead thanks to a 30-13 run against Roger Williams. Coppola notched 20 points, becoming the first Lyon since Mahlon Williams '95 in February 1995 to reach the 20-point plateau in six straight games. Leo had 13 points, junior Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) turned in 12 points and six rebounds, while freshman Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) added 10 points off the bench.

Wheaton nearly knocked off Bridgewater State, which had recently upset 20th-ranked University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, but the Lyons yielded a 23-6 second-half run to see a 16-point lead erased. Perry shot 3-of-4 from beyond the arc while finishing with 19 points and four assists, and Sasso added 16 points. Coppola collected 12 points, Leo had 11, and Stehle snagged nine rebounds.

Senior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) is eighth in program history in career blocks (49). Coppola has 683 points in his 33-game career, as he now sits 20th on Wheaton's all-time list. He is ninth in program history in three-pointers (102).