Norton, MA --- Justin Molen (Newark, DE) collected 15 of his game-best 23 in the second half points to headline four WPI players in double figures scoring as the Engineers hit the road Thursday evening and bested host Wheaton 82-70 in a NEWMAC men's basketball contest in Emerson Gymnasium inside the Hass Athletic Center.  
 
WPI, which has now won four straight for a third time this season and is receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, is now 14-3 on the season and is 7-1 in NEWMAC action.  The Crimson and Gray ends the first time around the conference in first place, leading Babson (6-2) by a game and Salve Regina (6-2and Clark (5-3) by two games after the Beavers defeated Salve 89-74 Wednesday in Wellesley.  Wheaton slips to 11-5 overall and 3-5 in league play.
 
The Engineers were very efficient with the basketball, committing just six turnovers, while shooting 52.6% (30-57) from the floor to go with a 31-24 rebounding advantage. Wheaton shot well with a 50% (24-48) rate, including 47.8% (11-23) from three-point range, but managed just two offensive boards on the night.

Molen was a tidy 10-15 from the field and added five rebounds and two assists for the Engineers, while graduate student guard Tim Reidy (Needham, MA) netted 18 points, pulled down three rebounds and came up with a steal. Junior guard Nathan Bledsoe (San Antonio, Texas) finished with 15 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists while junior Jack Bleier (Victor, NY) contributed 14 points off the bench, including canning 8-of-9 attempts from the free throw line.  The guests also received a boost from rookie guard Tao Schreiber (Pompano Beach, FL), who amassed five points and grabbed four boards.

Senior forward Eoin Morrissey (Watertown, MA) and classmate Tristan Herry (East Taunton, MA) each scored 17 points to lead the Lyons. Morrissey added seven rebounds and an assist and Herry was 5-10 from the floor, grabbed two boards, dished for two assists and picked up a pair of steals. Senior guard Chris Billone (Windham, NH) kept Wheaton in the game with three big triples in the second half in 10 minutes off the bench.

Billone buried his third three-pointer of the game at the 5:33 mark of the second half to pull the Lyons within 66-63, but WPI put together a damaging 14-4 stretch over the next four and a half minutes, fueled by eight points from Molen, to give the visitors a 80-67 lead with 62 ticks left in the contest.
 
The first half saw neither team lead by more than six points.  The two teams were nearly identical statistically in the opening 20 minutes with Wheaton enjoying a slight advantage in shooting percentage (50.0% to 46.4%) while the Engineers held a small edge on the glass (15-13) and the teams combined for just nine turnovers.   The teams went to the locker room knotted at 35 Jack Bleier converted a layup in the waning seconds for forge the sixth and final time of the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Engineers scored the five of the first six points of the new stanza, including a three-pointer from Bledsoe to give them a 40-36 margin, before Wheaton went on an 8-2 run, capped by a layup from sophomore forward Nick Scandura (Barrington, RI) to give the Lyons their last lead of the night at 44-42 with 16:25 showing in the second half. WPI began to assert itself with a 16-5 stretch, led by seven points from Reidy, to take a 58-49 advantage with 10:44 to play in the game. Wheaton came alive with a 9-2 run, sparked by a pair of three-balls off the bench from Billone, to pull within 60-58 with 7:41 to go in the contest
 
The two squads begin the second half of conference play on Saturday afternoon.   WPI squares off with Babson at 1pm inside the friendly confines of Harrington Auditorium while Wheaton ventures to Western Mass to tangle with Springfield at 3:30pm.
 
Portion of Release Courtesy Wheaton Sports Information