NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's basketball team suffered its fifth straight loss following its 78-63 setback to local foe Bridgewater State University during non-conference action on Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium. 

The Lyons are 0-5, while the Bears, who avenged last year's home loss to Wheaton, improve to 4-2.

Junior Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, MA/Worcester Academy) turned in career highs of 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss, while classmate Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, RI/Bishop Hendricken) contributed 15 markers.  Freshmen Brian Grossman (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and Will Bayliss (Manchester, NH/Tilton School) had eight and seven points, respectively, while sophomore Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Saint Michael Academy) grabbed eight rebounds.

Senior Judah Jackson (Everett, MA/Everett) made 10 of his 13 shots to lead Bridgewater State with a game-best 25 points and seven rebounds.  Classmate Samuel Johnson (North Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford) went 7-of-8 from the floor while notching a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards.  Senior Nicholas Motta (Fairhaven, MA/Fairhaven) tallied 15 markers, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Trailing 4-2 a little more than two minutes in thanks to back-to-back Johnson buckets, Wheaton scored nine unanswered points over 2:06 to lead 13-4 at 15:31.  Weeks drained a pair of threes during the stretch, while Degnan dropped in five points.  The visitors responded with a 19-5 spurt during a 7:20 span for a 23-18 advantage with 7:34 to play before the break. 

A Weeks basket made the score 23-20 before Bridgewater State used a 9-2 run in gaining the half's largest lead up to that point at 32-22.  Wheaton trimmed the gap to six points twice, including trailing 39-33 at the intermission.

The Bears opened the second frame by scoring nine of the stanza's first 11 points for a 48-35 advantage at the 15:53 mark.  The Blue and White chipped away at its deficit and eventually got as close as 57-53 on a pair of Bayliss freebies at 7:07, but Bridgewater State quickly brought its advantage back to double figures in using a 13-2 run to put the game away for good, as the Bears held a 70-55 lead with 2:36 remaining.

Wheaton wraps up its three-game homestand on Tuesday against non-conference opponent Elms College at 7:00 p.m.