Men's Basketball (13-10, 5-5) Drops Only Contest, Remains Third Entering Final Week

The Wheaton College men's basketball team dropped its only contest last week, a close 73-69 decision to visiting Springfield College on Saturday during New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play, as the Lyons' past two league losses came by a total of six points. The Blue and White stands third in the seven-team league with two contests remaining during the final week of the regular season. By finishing among the top four, it would host its first postseason game since 2006.

Wheaton pulled within 70-69 with 27 seconds remaining against the Pride but came no closer. The Lyons made their final 12 free-throw tries to stay in the game despite hitting only two field goals in the last 8:13, both of which came from senior Nick Michel (Hyde Park, MA/Boston Latin School) in the final minute. Sophomore Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) scored a team-high 17 points behind 6-of-7 free-throw shooting, while Michel had 12 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench, going 4-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 at the charity stripe. Freshman Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) scored 10 points, junior Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) totaled nine points and six boards, while sophomore Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) collected seven points, a career-high seven assists and a career-high-tying seven rebounds.

Michel and junior Jaxon Leo (Leesburg, VA/New Hampton School) remain tied for eighth in program history in career blocks (49). Coppola has 929 points in his 48-game career, as he sits 15th on Wheaton's all-time list. Coppola is eighth in program history in three-pointers (121), just one shy of Jarrett Lewis '03. With 429 points this year, Coppola is the sixth Lyon with at least two 400-point seasons. He joins Chris Sullivan '93, the program's all-time leading scorer, as just the second to accomplish the feat by his sophomore year.