NORTON, Mass. – The Clark men's basketball team (9-4, 1-1 NEWMAC) traveled to Wheaton (6-6, 1-1 NEWMAC) for their first conference road game of the year and fell 84-75 to the Lyons on Saturday afternoon from the Emerson Gymnasium.

How it Happened

• Clark took an early 9-4 lead sparked by four points by sophomore Kekoa McArdle, a three-pointer from sophomore Isaiah Taylor and a layup from first-year Reid Neumann.
• After the Lyons got back within one, sophomore Ian Calabrese hit a jumper and junior Mikey O'Brien connected on a three off a feed from sophomore Donovan Price as the Cougars held a 14-8 advantage with 11:24 to go in the first half.
• The teams then traded points over the next three minutes before an and-one layup from Taylor extended Clark's lead to 21-14 with 8:05 remaining in the first half.
• Wheaton's Eoin Morrissey and Taylor then hit three's on consecutive possessions and Calabrese converted a four-point play after hitting a three-pointer and hitting the free throw with 5:50 to go as the scarlet and white held a 28-21 advantage.
• Taylor and Calabrese hit three-points on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 10, but Wheaton went on a 6-0 run that was stopped by a McArdle layup with 2:07 remaining in the half.
• Taylor scored Clark's final five points of the half and held Wheaton scoreless over the final 3:30 of the frame as the Cougars led 41-30 at the break.
• Wheaton opened the second half on a 12-2 run with the two Clark points coming from a McArdle layup and a Neumann three-pointer with 16:33 left in the game pushed the Cougar lead back up to 46-42.
• Neumann hit another triple on Clark's next possession and after Wheaton tied the game at 49-49, O'Brien hit another three-pointer with 14:33 remaining as the Cougars held a 52-49 lead.
• The Lyons then tied the game three times over the next two minutes before junior Jordan Richard scored five unanswered points, including an and-one layup as Clark led 61-58.
• After Wheaton scored five unanswered, Taylor hit a three off a feed from Calabrese to retake a one-point lead and a McArdle layup with 7:23 remaining gave the Cougars a 68-67 edge.
• Down three, Taylor hit a jumper with 5:15 to go to get back within one, but Evan Cook connected on a triple for the Lyons and a Morrissey layup extended the Wheaton lead to seven.
• O'Brien hit a three with 3:20 left in the game to get Clark back within four at 77-73 and a pair of free throws from Taylor with 1:22 remaining made it a 79-75 ballgame.
• Wheaton then scored on their next possession and held the Cougars scoreless the rest of the way to win 84-75.

Inside the Box Score

• The Cougars grabbed 41 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, and forced 12 turnovers.
• Taylor led the team with 28 points and went 10-11 from the free throw line.
• O'Brien netted 11 points and dished out five assists.
• Neumann and McArdle each added 10 points.

What's Next

The Cougars will return to the court on Wednesday with a road NEWMAC game against Emerson beginning at 6:00 p.m.