EASTON, Mass. – The Clark University men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the season finale as a three-pointer from Alex Dubrow with five seconds left in regulation snapped a 79-79 tie to provide Wheaton College with a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory at the Emerson Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

Score: Lyons 82, Cougars 79

Records: Clark University (8-17, 3-11 NEWMAC) | Wheaton College (7-17, 2-12 NEWMAC)

How it Happened

Junior co-captain Tyler Davern (Webster, Mass.) erupted for a career-high 37 points on a gaudy 15-of-19 from the floor and 6-of-8 from three-point range. The forward also narrowly missed a double-double pulling down nine rebounds for the Cougars. Junior Matthew Waggett (Saugus, Mass.) also enjoyed a strong day for Clark, collecting a career-high 16 rebounds while turning in 14 points for his second double-double of the season.

Junior co-captain Charles Stevens (Bronx, N.Y.) dished out a career-high six assists to go with four boards and three steals while Joel Arteaga (Wyncote, Pa.), Anthony Grzembski (Webster, Mass.) and Biko Gayman (Fort Pierce, Fla.) all finished with seven points apiece.

For Wheaton, Dubrow amassed a team-leading 29 points while handing out a game-high eight assists. Robby Lowey and Alex Carlisle rounded out the starters in double-figures for the Lyons with 18 and 11 points respectively while Evan Cook turned in 12 points off the bench.

Clark began the game with a 5-0 deficit before a 6-3 run, courtesy of four points by Davern, cut the deficit down to three at the 17:17 mark of the first half. With 15:09 on the clock, Gayman connected on a layup to spark an 8-3 run, with the team later tying the game at 14-14 on the first three-pointer of the game from Davern. The Cougars gained control near the midway point of the half as a three-pointer from first-year Joshua Schibi (Burlington, Conn.) jumpstarted an 8-0 run which saw Davern kick in five points for the team over the stretch to provide a 29-26 lead.

Clark had its best stretch of the game over the final four minutes in the half as Davern caught fire from the field, draining four shots in a row from beyond the arc to support a 16-1 scoring run for his team. The Cougars used it to take a 49-33 advantage into the intermission break.

Out of the break, Wheaton began to chip away at the deficit as a free throw from Dubrow and a lay-up two possessions later led a 5-0 spurt to cut the gap to 51-40. With 15:10 to go the margin was down to nine points as Aaron Williams knocked down a three-pointer to make it 55-46.

The Lyons made a push at the 13:09 mark with Dubrow converting five straight points for the Lyons during a 9-0 run which cut the gap down to just five points at 60-55. With under nine minutes to go the host kept applying pressure as a lay-in from Carlisle and a three-pointer from Evan Cook tied the game at 68-68.

The Cougars gained separation with a three-pointer from Joel Arteaga (Wyncote, Pa.) and three free-throws from Waggett to make it 74-68. The teams continued to battle as the Lyons grabbed a one-point lead with 2:33 to go before a lay-up from Davern and a three from Gayman tied the game up on two separate occasions. With five seconds left, Dubrow connected on the final points after connecting on a trey to provide the 82-79 final score.

Clark finished the game 29-of-62 from the floor (46.8%) while knocking down 11-of-30 (36.7%) from three-point range. Wheaton ended 28-of-57 shooting (49.1%) and canned 9-of-21 from beyond the arc (42.9%).