MANHATTAN, NY- The Wheaton College men's basketball team fell to a hot-shooting State University of New York at New Paltz team during the opening round of the New York University (NYU) Holiday Tournament Monday night, as the Lyons dropped an 88-76 decision to the Hawks, who shot 59.3 percent in Coles Sports Center.

Moving to 6-3 on the season, Wheaton looks to salvage a split in tomorrow's consolation game against Rivier College at 6:00 p.m. Now 4-5, New Paltz faces host NYU in the title contest at 8:00 p.m.

Six ties and three lead changes highlighted a first half that saw neither team lead by more than six points until the final 1:09 before the break, but a jumper at 7:55 provided the Hawks with an advantage that would not be relinquished, as New Paltz knocked down 62.5 percent of its shots in the frame. Five points from junior Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) helped give Wheaton a 10-6 edge at 15:29, and a lay-up off the break by freshman Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) with 13:09 left made it 15-10.

Three deadlocks during a 3:39 span left things at 19-all at 8:26 of the opening half before the Hawks held a 23-14 scoring advantage in the final 7:55. Stehle, Weeks and sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) combined on 22 points for the Lyons, who shot 46.4 percent in the first stanza before making just 29.8 percent of their second-half attempts.

The Blue and White hung around early in the second frame, getting as close as five points at 50-45 with 14:58 remaining, but New Paltz rattled off 12 straight over 2:57 to put the game out of reach. The Hawks eventually led by as many as 18 points at the 10:12 mark and, outside of Coppola's tip-in with 6:57 to go, Wheaton trailed in double figures for the remainder of the game.

All 16 Lyons saw action, with Coppola, Stehle and Weeks accounting for 13 points apiece. Coppola dished out a team-high four assists, Stehle pulled down a game-best nine rebounds, and Weeks went 4-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. Sophomore Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI/East Providence) chipped in with nine points, while junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) added seven points and six boards.

A balanced scoring attack saw five Hawks score between 13 and 15 points. Freshman Harris Wichard (Merrick, NY/Bellmore JFK) knocked down 7-of-9 shots for 15 points, classmate Shalik Jenkins (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) turned in 14 points, while three others added 13.