Worcester, Mass. – Andrew Musler (Belmont, Mass.) led a quartet of Clark University players in double figures and the host Cougars raced past a hard-charging Wheaton squad, 70-55, in New England Women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday evening.

The win for the Scarlet and White is their second in a row and improves their overall record to 9-13, but more importantly, their conference ledger jumps to 4-7 with three contests left on the regular season schedule. For Wheaton, they have now dropped three straight and 12 of their last 13 games to slip to 4-17 overall.

The game was tight in the first 20 minutes with Clark holding a slight 28-26 halftime lead thanks to ten points from Nicholas DaPrato (Marshfield, Mass.), but the Lyons stayed close as Worcester-area native Timothy Berry (Sterling, Mass.) provided a spark with seven points and seven rebounds in the opening stanza.

Ahead 37-32 after Musler and another Worcester-area product – Eddie Capstick (Worcester, Mass.) – traded layups, the Cougars went on a 15-3 run that featured hoops from DaPrato and Musler, free throws by Joseph Atkinson (Milford, Mass.) and a deep three-pointer from Tyler Huffman (Hartford, Conn.).

The Clark lead ballooned to 18 after Atkinson converted a conventional three-point play with 4:19 to left, making the score 61-43.

Wheaton made one final push, going on a 10-1 spurt as Ben Christopher (Northampton, Mass.) drained a three-pointer and scored on a layup and Billy Battaglia (Simsbury, Conn.) and Capstick scored inside with the ensuing free throw, trimming their deficit to nine at 61-53 with 2:19 to go.

Clark, however, went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 2:15, including a 6-for-6 performance from Atkinson that salted the game away.

For the game, the Lyons connected on just 29 percent of their shots but they did hold a 44-39 edge on the glass – 16 of which came on the offensive end.

Battaglia led Wheaton with 14 points, while Capstick added 11 to go along with six rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes. Berry, meanwhile, finished with seven points and nine rebounds.

Clark was paced by Musler, who just missed a double-double, totaling 18 points and nine boards to go with four blocks, while DaPrato added 15 and Huffman chipped in with ten. Atkinson made a killing at the free throw line, going 10-for-11 and finishing with a career-high 12 points, four assists and three rebounds.

David Mercier (Milford, Mass.) ended with six points, a game-best ten rebounds and a career-high five blocks.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday. Wheaton travels to MIT for a 2:00 p.m. tip, while the Cougars welcome Babson at 1:00 p.m.