Notables

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Wheaton (Mass.) men knew it wasn't going to be easy to get to the NEWMAC title game, as the Lyons had to go through the top seed and No. 22-ranked Clark. However, the squad nevertheless captured a stunning 100-92 victory in Friday's semifinal round at Kneller Athletic Center.

Fifth-seed Wheaton will face second-seed Babson, a 72-56 winner over Springfield, for the right to represent the NEWMAC in the NCAA Tournament. With the win, the Lyons denied Clark the opportunity for its fourth title game appearance in a row. The Cougars, regular season champions for three years and tournament winners the last two seasons, fall to 20-5 overall.

Wheaton used a season-best 65.5% (19-for-29) from the floor in the opening half and shot 5-of-8 (.625) from behind the arc en route to a 46-39 lead at the intermission. The first seven minutes of the stanza featured four lead changes and four ties, but the Lyons took the lead for good at 20-18 off a Richard Henninger layup with 12:22 to play. That basket spearheaded a 14-5 run, which was capped by a Josean Vega 3-pointer at the 6:53 minute mark.

Clark refused to go away, as the Cougars knotted the game on three occasions before taking a 64-63 edge midway through the half, thanks to a 3 from sophomore Trevor Walker. Both teams then battled through three lead changes and three ties, with the latter coming at 71 points apiece with 6:55 to play. On Wheaton's next possession, senior Luke Gordon drained a 3-pointer at the 6:41 mark to give the Lyons the lead for good. Wheaton extended its lead to 85-75, its largest advantage of the contest, with 1:59 remaining.

The Cougars opted to foul the rest of the way, as the Lyons used clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to hold off any Clark surge. Senior forward Sam Ackah began a lengthy two-minute free throw marathon, knocking down a pair of freebies while leading Wheaton to an impressive 17-for-22 (77.3%) mark in that stretch alone. The Cougars would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, as the Lyons posted their second-highest point total of the season.

Wheaton posted a season-high with six players in double-digit scoring, led by Gordon's career-best 31 and outrebounded Clark 50-38. Sophomore forward Frankie Whall tallied 13 points, grabbed a team-high tying 10 boards and blocked three shots. Ackah scored 11 points and posted 10 rebounds in the contest, while freshman forward Mike Stanton added 15 points and seven boards. Lewis and Vega rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

For Clark, junior Sean Fleming led the way with 24 points (8-for-15 FG). Senior Amos Anderson had 18 points (7-for-14 FG) and six rebounds, while sophomore Brent Kenneway added 10 points in the losing effort.