BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Bowdoin College men's basketball team never trailed in a 68-57 non-conference victory over Bridgewater State College on Tuesday evening. The Polar Bears (12-10) snap a three-game losing skid while the Bears (15-5) have their 12-game winning streak snapped.
Bowdoin sprinted to a 24-5 lead after eight minutes thanks to nine early points from Mark Phillips. A trio of three pointers from Ryan O'Connell increased the Polar Bear lead to as many as 25 points before a late flurry by Bridgewater, sparked by 11 first-half points from Judah Jackson, closed the gap to 16 at the break, 39-23.
The Bears burst out of the gate in the second period on a 12-2 run to quickly cut the gap to six points after a Nicholas Motta hoop-and-harm with 16:45 to go. Bowdoin rebounded with a quick 5-0 spurt , capped by Will Hanley and-one to push the advantage back to 11 points with 13 minutes on the clock.
Bridgewater continued to chip away courtesy of Judah Jackson's 13 second-half points and came within five points on one occasion, but could get no closer. The Polar Bears put the game on ice with 52.4% shooting in the second period and held an enormous 43-20 advantage on the glass for the contest.
Will Hanley stuffed the stat sheet for Bowdoin, posting 15 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and two blocks. O'Connell notched a team-high 18 points off the bench while Phillips added 15 and 11 boards with Paul Sellew pitching in 10. Mike Hauser dished out seven assists in the win.
Jackson scored a game-high 24 points for Bridgewater, who were only able to muster 34% shooting from the field for the game. Jackson upped his career scoring total to 991 points as he is closing in on the 1,000-point milestone. Motta scored 12 in the loss for the Bears.