BOSTON, Mass - It was a tough loss for Emerson Men's Basketball as they hosted the Wheaton College Lyons in a NEWMAC conference game. The visiting Lyons walked away with the win with a final score of 64-61. Wheaton is now 8-7 overall and 2-3 in the NEWMAC. The Lions drop to 5-11 overall and 0-5 in conference play.

In the first half Wheaton jumped out to an early lead thanks to a 3 pointer from Ryan Fogarty and another by Timothy Berry.  Late in the first half Emerson closed the gap with a 3 pointer from Michael Thorpe to bring the score up 22-21. Billy Battaglia then went on a bit of a run for Wheaton scoring 5 points in the last 3 minutes. Both teams entered the locker room with Wheaton's lead at 31-28.

In the second half both teams traded points with Wheaton barely holding onto their first half lead. with less than 15 minutes left on the clock, Thorpe hit another 3 pointer for the Lions to give Emerson their first lead of the game, (40-38). Berry responded for the Wheaton Lyons with a 3 pointer of his own moments later to retake the lead by a single point.

With 2 minutes remaining in the game, Emerson freshman Geoffrey Gray made a layup to tie the score at 59-59. Again Wheaton retook the lead, if just barely, and with 22 seconds left Tyson Hallowell hit a layup to bring the Lions within one point. Battaglia then made a free throw, followed by another from David Carbonello to seal the victory for Wheaton, final score 64-61.

Leading for the Wheaton Lyons was Battaglia with 23 points. Leading in rebounds was Quinton Dale with 11 total, he also had 11 points and a solo blocked shot.

Stat leaders for the Lions include Thorpe with 21 points and 6 rebounds. Austin Pinckney lead the Lions in rebounds with 12 total, he also had 7 points and a blocked shot.

The Lions return to action on January 23rd when they face MIT on the road. Tip off set for 2:00pm.