THE BASICS:

- Score: Wheaton College 66, MIT 63

- Records: MIT (10-11, 3-7 NEWMAC); Wheaton College (6-14, 1-9 NEWMAC)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage) 

- The Lead: On Saturday afternoon at Rockwell Cage, the MIT men's basketball team dropped a 66-63 final to Wheaton College. The win is the first for the Lyons in the series since the 2010-11 season as the Engineers now lead the all-time series by a 30-22 margin.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- After a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes, MIT held a 17-16 advantage following a layup by first-year Kael Kordonowy (Wichita, Kan.). The Lyons countered with a 10-0 run over the next 3:28 of action, capped by a layup by Evan Cook, to stake to a 26-17 lead with 7:07 remaining before halftime.

- The Engineers cut the lead down to 26-23 following back-to-back threes from first-years Aaron Fuchs (Tokyo, Japan) and Matas Masys (Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.) before Wheaton closed the half strong and led 36-27 at the break.

- MIT got off to a solid start in the second half and quickly tied the game at 36-36 behind a pair of three-pointers from Masys and sophomore Giannis Chatziveroglou (Athens, Greece). 

- The Engineers regained the lead at 43-42 on a three-pointer by junior Ian Hinkley (Raleigh, N.C.) before Wheaton countered with a run of its own and led 53-47 with 7:06 on the clock. Back-to-back layups from Chatziveroglou tied the game for the final time at 55-55 before an Alex Carlisle free throw put Wheaton in front for good with 3:19 remaining.

- After two free throws by Carlisle gave Wheaton a 64-61 edge with 18 seconds left, the Engineers inbounded and were looking for the equalizer. With 9.8 seconds left, Hinkley got fouled on a three from the corner and headed to the line for a trio of free throws. Hinkley hit the first two to pull MIT within one at 64-63, but the third was just off and the Lyons pulled down the rebound. Noah Sochaczevski hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give the visitors a three-point lead, followed by an MIT three-point attempt that was off the mark as Wheaton clinched the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Chatziveroglou finished with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the Engineers, while Kordonowy added 13 points to go along with nine points and nine rebounds by Hinkley.

- Carlisle posted a game-high 22 points for the Lyons to go along with 14 points from Evan Cook and 12 points by Alex DuBrow. 

- Wheaton held a 39-32 rebounding advantage and outscored MIT by a 15-5 margin at the free throw line. MIT outshot the Lyons from the field and three-point land and registered 14 assists on 26 made field goals.

UP NEXT:

- MIT is back in action on Wednesday, February 12th as the Engineers travel to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for a 5:30 p.m. start.

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