Men's Basketball (11-7, 3-2) Splits Pair of League Games, Stands Third in NEWMAC

The Wheaton College men's basketball team went 1-1 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action last week, downing homestanding Clark University, 75-67 on Wednesday before falling by an 84-69 count on Saturday to visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), which is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll and earned at least a share of the past five NEWMAC regular season titles. With a win over Clark, the Lyons extended their winning streak to four games and helped them match their league victory total from each of the previous two seasons. Nearly halfway through the NEWMAC campaign, Wheaton sits third in the seven-team league.

Senior Mark Sullivan (West Roxbury, MA/Catholic Memorial) canned two three-pointers in 39 seconds during a big 13-2 run that pulled Wheaton from one point down and into the lead for good at Clark. Sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) tallied 19 points and three assists, while freshman Bruno Naylor (Los Angeles, CA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) shot 4-of-6 en route to 12 points in just 14 minutes off the bench. Sullivan was 3-of-3 from beyond the arc for nine points as a reserve, while freshman Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) also came off the bench to tally nine points. The Lyons went 8-of-17 from three-point range.

Wheaton scored the first eight points against WPI, which went to the past four NCAA Tournaments, but the Engineers used a big rally to overtake the hosts. Coppola shot 6-of-10 for 17 points, junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) was 7-of-8 on free-throw tries while scoring 12 points, sophomore Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) tallied 10, and Degnan had nine.

Senior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) remains eighth in program history in career blocks (49), while Leo is tied for 10th (46). Coppola has 846 points in his 43-game career, as he sits 17th on Wheaton's all-time list. He is eighth in program history in three-pointers (113).