Lyons, Plymouth State win on first day of Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament

NORTON, MA- Junior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA/Watertown) poured in 34 points to lead the Wheaton College men's basketball team past a pesky Lyndon State College team, 97-84 in the first round of the 14th Wheaton Tip-Off Tournament on Friday in Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons advance to Saturday's 3:30 p.m. championship against Plymouth State University, a 96-86 winner over Salve Regina University in the first contest of the night. Wheaton, which is seeking to win its own tournament for the seventh time, downed the Panthers, 95-88 in the 2007 title game. The consolation contest between Lyndon State and Salve Regina will begin at 1:30 p.m.

During Wheaton's win against the Hornets, Coppola shot 6-of-9 from three-point range while adding three steals, and sophomore Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) tallied his first career double-double behind 16 points and 10 assists, becoming the first Lyon with a double-digit helper figure since Sean Kelly '06 on March 4, 2006. Senior Ben Stehle (Newton, MA/Newton South) added 10 points, and freshman Brian Johnson (Roxbury, MA/Brimmer and May School) had nine points and seven boards. After shooting 60.5 percent in the opening half, Wheaton finished at 49.3 percent for the game, including 11-of-23 from deep.

Freshman Avery King (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) also scored 34 points for Lyndon State, including 19 of his team's 32 first-half points. He finished 11-of-16 from the charity stripe while adding three steals, and sophomore Ben Sackett (Lyndonville, VT/Lyndon Institute) was 5-of-10 from beyond the arc en route to tallying 19 points off the bench. Classmate Jose Fortunato (Boston, MA/Melrose) contributed 10 points and six helpers. The Hornets shot 56.3 percent in the second half after a 31.3-percent first-period showing.

The Lyons captured the lead for good at 17:54 of the opening half on freshman Cliften Desravines' (Somerville, MA/Taft School) hoop before leading by as many as 26 points during the stanza, grabbing a 56-30 advantage with 58 seconds to go on Degnan's pair of freebies.

Wheaton held a 56-32 lead at break, but Lyndon State went on a quick 15-3 run to open the second stanza by going 5-of-6 during one stretch, including canning four three-pointers. A 12-0 run that took 51 seconds to elapse made it 59-47 at 16:50, with King and Sackett each scoring six points. A King steal and breakaway hoop trimmed the Lyons' lead to 69-59 at 12:57, but three-pointers 17 seconds apart by freshman Scott Faucher (Lebanon, NH/Kimball Union Academy) and Coppola put the hosts back up by 16, and they never again led by fewer than 13.

During the opening contest, Plymouth State senior Mike Chergey (Bow, NH/Bow) went 10-of-14 for 21 points to lead five double-figure scorers, while junior Ryan Lambert (Derry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) posted 20 points, going 8-of-8 on free throws. Seniors Eric Hondal (Miami, FL/Piper) and Jason O'Keefe (Everett, MA/Everett) chipped in with 15 and 14 points, respectively, with Hondal adding seven assists and four steals and hitting all eight freebie tries, while classmate Bryan Tracy (Manchester, NH/Central) was 5-of-6 for 11 points.

Juniors Ryan Birrell (Hope, RI/Scituate) and Dan Royce (Mahwah, NJ/Mahwah) paced Salve Regina with 18 points each, as Royce went 8-of-12 with seven rebounds and Birell shot 7-of-14. Graduate student Jabreche Boyd (West Haven, CT/Notre Dame) and freshman Trey Scales (Boston, MA/Concord-Carlisle) recorded 13 points each, while sophomore Andrew Knight (Danvers, MA/Saint John's Prep) added 10 points and six assists.

The game witnessed strong offensive starts by each team, as both the Panthers and Seahawks went 17-of-29 in the opening half for 58.6 percent. Five ties and four lead changes highlighted the opening stanza, including Plymouth State's O'Keefe draining his second trey with five seconds left to force a 42-all tie at the break. The Panthers converted 6-of-12 from three-point territory in the half, while the Seahawks were 5-of-8 from deep. Plymouth State had assists on 14 of its 17 baskets.

The Panthers slowly built upon a 61-57 advantage with a little more than 13 minutes remaining, forging a 76-60 lead on an O'Keefe jumper with 7:46 left. Plymouth State continued to lead by double figures until the final minute, when Salve Regina made it an eight-point contest on a pair of occasions.