Wheaton, which dropped a 69-67 decision to WPI on January 22 in Norton, suffered its second straight league loss. The Lyons fall to 15-6 overall and 6-4 in the conference, while the 24th-ranked Engineers collected their 11th straight victory and 20th overall to improve to 20-1 on the year and an unblemished 10-0 in the NEWMAC.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, as the two teams endured 15 lead changes and nine ties. Wheaton had the upper hand in the early going, as Vega and sophomore Brian Zukowski (Dracut, MA/Dracut) ignited the visitor offense with a pair of three-pointers to start the game. The Lyons pushed their lead out to seven at 11-4 thanks to another Vega trey with 14:53 remaining. WPI used a quick 7-0 spurt to knot the contest and eventually took its first lead of the game at 14-13 on a Ryan Flynn (Hamilton, MA/Hamilton-Wenham) three midway through the half.
Trailing 16-15 with 9:58 to play, Wheaton went on an 8-2 run over the next two plus minutes to take a 23-18 advantage. The Engineers responded with seven unanswered points during a two-minute stretch to recapture the lead. WPI later held a 28-27 edge with 4:15 on the clock, but the Lyons took over from there, reeling off eight unanswered points while preventing the Engineers from scoring en route to a 35-28 cushion at the half. Vega scored all eight of Wheaton's points during the spurt, finishing his monster half with an outstanding 24 points. Vega went 7-of-9 from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point territory and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line in 17 minutes of action. As a team, the Lyons converted 12-of-22 (.545) from the floor and 4-of-9 (.444) from the arc.
In the second half, Wheaton had all the momentum in the early going, leading by as many as 12 points at 42-30 with 17:52 remaining. The Lyons maintained their double-digit advantage with a 45-34 lead, but the hosts then used a 16-4 run to capture a 50-49 edge with 9:25 to play. Sophomore Ryan Cain (Webster, MA/St. John's) totaled eight points in that stretch, which included back-to-back three-point buckets. Both teams stayed within four points of each other for the majority of the closing minutes and eventually were knotted at 66-66 with 2:21 to go.
Cain knocked down a pair of free throws to give the hosts a two-point edge, but on the ensuing Wheaton possession the Lyons had a pair of close-range shots blocked and the Engineers were awarded two free throws and the ball following a technical foul. WPI then made three free throws on its next possession to push its lead to five with a minute to go, but Vega brought the Lyons to within three on two freebies. Following a WPI timeout, Engineer sophomore Scott Misiaszek (Old Lyme, CT/Old Lyme) made a key bucket with 23 seconds left to seal the win.
Vega's game-best 36 points included 11-of-19 shooting from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 11-of-11 from the charity stripe. He also had three steals and three boards in 36 minutes. Zukowski finished with 11 points, while senior Mark Ledwell (Charlemont, MA/Mohawk Trail Regional) grabbed a game-high tying seven boards. Cain and Flynn led WPI with 17 points apiece, while junior Brian Steele (Whitinsville, MA/Northbridge) turned in a solid all-around performance with 13 points (7-9 FT), seven boards, five assists and three steals.
The Lyons will step out of league play Saturday for a game at Newbury College in Brookline at 3:30 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Wheaton College vs WPI 2/8/05 7:00 p.m. at Harrington Auditorium, Worcester, Mass. At Harrington Auditorium, Worcester, Mass. WPI 75, WHEATON COLLEGE 68 WHEATON COLLEGE (15-6, 6-4) Josean Vega 11-19 11-11 36; Brian Zukowski 4-9 2-2 11; Mike Stanton 3-7 2-5 9; Sean Kelly 3-6 0-1 6; Brent DiGiovanna 1-1 0-0 2; James Greenslit 1-3 0-0 2; Mark Ledwell 1-4 0-0 2; Brian Cerone 0-0 0-0 0; Eric Johnston 0-1 0-0 0; David Harding 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 15-19 68. WPI (20-1, 10-0) Ryan Cain 5-12 4-6 17; Ryan Flynn 4-6 8-8 17; Brian Steele 3-5 7-9 13; Scott Misiaszek 3-5 2-2 8; Antoine Coleman 4-5 0-0 8; Mike Prestileo 1-8 2-2 5; James Marois 1-1 3-3 5; Brett Dickson 0-2 2-2 2; Steve Furber 0-0 0-0 0; Kevin Reidy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-44 28-32 75. Wheaton College............... 35 33 - 68 WPI........................... 28 47 - 75 3-point goals-Wheaton College 5-16 (Josean Vega 3-7; Mike Stanton 1-3; Brian Zukowski 1-3; James Greenslit 0-2; Sean Kelly 0-1), WPI 5-17 (Ryan Cain 3-8; Ryan Flynn 1-1; Mike Prestileo 1-7; Brian Steele 0-1). Fouled out--Wheaton College-Sean Kelly, WPI-Antoine Coleman. Rebounds-Wheaton College 21 (Mark Ledwell 7), WPI 34 (Brian Steele 7). Assists-Wheaton College 8 (Mark Ledwell 3), WPI 12 (Brian Steele 5). Total fouls-Wheaton College 25, WPI 17. A-310