The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

Worcester, MA --- Senior Jeff Prebeck (Columbus, IN) had 26 points to lead the third-seeded and defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) champion Coast Guard Academy men's basketball team to a 68-56 come-from-behind victory over seventh-seeded Wheaton College in a NEWMAC tournament semifinal round game played at Harrington Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Coast Guard (20-6) advances to tomorrow's title game for the second straight year. Wheaton concludes its season at 13-12.

WPI, the top-seed, advanced to the championship round with a 60-59 victory over Babson in the other semifinal contest. Sunday's game is a rematch of last year's NEWMAC championship, where Coast Guard defeated WPI, 71-66.

In addition to Prebeck, junior Craig Johnson (Medford, OR) was the other double-figure scorer with 23 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Wheaton was led by freshmen Anthony Coppola (Watertown, MA) with 15 points; Ryan Sasso (Peabody, MA) with 14 points and Bobby Perry (East Providence, RI) with seven boards.

After five ties and five lead changes, Nick Michel's (Hyde Park, MA) jumper gave Wheaton a one-point lead (22-21) at the 9:55 mark.

Neither team scored over the next 2:48 until Coast Guard regained the lead (23-22) on a lay-up from Jevon James (St. Thomas VI) and then pushed its advantage to 26-22 on four straight points from Johnson at 4:57. However, the Lyons closed the half on a 14-0 run highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Sasso and Coppola for a 36-26 halftime advantage.

Wheaton shot 53.6% from the field, to Coast Guard's 32.1% in the half. 7:45 in the second.

Coast Guard chipped away at a 12-point deficit (38-26) with a 20-7 run and took a 46-45 lead - its first advantage since the first half - on a lay-in by Prebeck with 7:45 left to play. The Bears pushed their margin up to as many as nine on two occasions, but Wheaton closed the gap to within six both times. A free-throw by Sasso at 3:23 brought the Lyons to within 51-57 and Coppola's trey at 2:48 made it 54-60, but Wheaton would get no closer. Coast Guard scored six of the final 10 points at the charity stripe to account for the final score.

Newspaper Box Score

Wheaton vs Coast Guard

3/2/08 3:00pm at Worcester, MA

At Worcester, MA

COAST GUARD 68, WHEATON 56

WHEATON (13-12)

Anthony Coppola 4-14 5-6 15; Ryan Sasso 6-11 1-1 14; Brent DiGiovanna 4-5

1-1 9; Jaxon Leo 3-9 0-0 6; Nick Michel 2-3 0-0 4; Mark Sullivan 1-4 0-0 3;

Bobby Perry 1-6 0-0 3; Ben Stehle 1-4 0-0 2; Jon Lecznar 0-1 0-0 0; Jake

Otto 0-0 0-0 0; Kristopher Pedra 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 7-8 56.

COAST GUARD (20-6)

Jeff Prebeck 10-14 6-7 26; Craig Johnson 6-10 11-16 23; Al Sowers 2-8 0-0 5;

Eric Hudson 2-4 0-0 4; Stefan Lewis 1-6 1-2 4; Grant Johnson 0-8 2-2 2;

Steve Blum 1-3 0-0 2; Jevon James 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 23-54 20-27 68.

Wheaton....................... 36 20 - 56

Coast Guard................... 26 42 - 68

3-point goals--Wheaton 5-24 (Anthony Coppola 2-8; Bobby Perry 1-4; Mark

Sullivan 1-4; Ryan Sasso 1-2; Ben Stehle 0-1; Kristopher Pedra 0-1; Jaxon

Leo 0-4), Coast Guard 2-17 (Al Sowers 1-4; Stefan Lewis 1-5; Grant Johnson

0-6; Jeff Prebeck 0-2). Fouled out--Wheaton-Ben Stehle; Jaxon Leo, Coast

Guard-None. Rebounds--Wheaton 34 (Bobby Perry 7), Coast Guard 37 (Craig

Johnson 9). Assists--Wheaton 7 (Bobby Perry 2; Ryan Sasso 2), Coast Guard 17

(Stefan Lewis 5; Grant Johnson 5). Total fouls--Wheaton 23, Coast Guard 16.

Technical fouls--Wheaton-None, Coast Guard-None. A-500

2008 NEWMAC Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinal #2 (at WPI)

Third Seed Coast Guard Defeats Seventh Seeded Wheaton 68-56 to Advance to NEWMAC Championship